A  HISTORY 


PROCEEDINGS  IN  THE  CITT  OP  NEW  ORLEANS, 


ON  THE   OCCASION  OF  THE 


FUNERAL   CEREMONIES 


IN  HONOR  OF 


CALHOM,  CLAY  AID  WEBSTER, 


WHICH  TOOK  PLACE 


THURSDAY,    DECEMBER  9th,   1852. 


PUBLISHED  BY  ORDER    OF    THE    GENERAL    COMMITTEE    OF  ARRANGEMENTS,    ON    THE    AUTHORITY 

OF  THE  CITY  COUNCIL. 


c,  L, 


NEW  ORIEANS: 

PRINTED  AT  THE  OFFICE  OF  THE  PICAYUNE. 

1853. 


PREFACE. 


THIS  PAMPHLET  is  designed  to  preserve  in  a  connected  and 
durable  form,  a  full  account  of  the  Public  Obsequies  celebrated  in  the 
City  of  New  Orleans  on  the  9th  of  December,  1852,  in  honor  of  the 
illustrious  statesmen  CALHOUN,  CLAY,  and  WEBSTER. 

Every  thing  connected  with  the  ceremonial,  from  its  first  inception 
at  a  public  meeting  in  Banks'  Arcade,  through  all  the  stages  of 
preparation,  to  the  final  grand  conclusion,  is  herein  minutely  and 
faithfully  recorded,  and  is  deemed  eminently  worthy  of  preservation, 
as  a  memorial  of  a  great  event  in  the  history  of  the  age,  a  rare  incident 
in  our  municipal  annals,  and  a  magnificent  spectacle,  which  will  not 
soon  be  surpassed.  The  ceremonial  will  be  marked  by  all  who 
witnessed  it,  as  an  epoch  in  their  lives.  No  such  pageant,  so  vast  in 
its  scale,  so  full  in  its  details,  managed  with  so  much  skill,  and  executed 
so  perfectly — has  ever  before  been  exhibited  here.  The  Executive 
Committees  seem  to  have  exactly  comprehended  the  wishes  of  their 
fellow-citizens,  and  all  they  proposed  was  amply  responded  to  by  the 
voluntary  acts  of  the  people.  The  long  drawn  and  solemn  procession, 
marching  to  the  sounds  of  wailing  music,  with  banners  craped  and 
muffled,  escorted  the  stately  hearse  and  its  funeral  urns,  with  all  the 
appointed  emblems  of  mourning,  through  streets  thronged  with  silent 
multitudes,  and  draped  with  spontaneous  habiliments  of  grief.  For  the 
whole  route,  extending  miles,  not  only  the  streets  and  sidewalks  were 
thronged  almost  to  obstruction,  but  the  windows,  story  upon  story, 
and  the  verandahs,  balcony  over  balcony,  were  filled  with  serious 


PREFACE. 


faces,  looking  intently  upon  the  moving  train  below.  Sable  draperies 
curtained  and  festooned  whole  rows  of  houses,  and  scarcely  a  block 
failed  to  exhibit  some  costly  or  tasteful  device,  in  unison  with  the 
official  preparations,  and  exhibiting  the  universal  sympathy  with  the 
objects  of  this  public  homage. 

Setting  aside  all  of  this,  which  might  rightfully  be  attributed  to 
individual  vanity  and  love  of  display,  or  to  the  popular  fondness  for 
parades  and  holidays,  there  was  in  the  whole  proceeding  a  sincerity 
and  earnestness  of  feeling  rarely  witnessed,  and  which  is  not  likely 
to  be  witnessed  by  any  man  twice  in  his  lifetime.  The  thought, 
unexpressed,  and  perhaps  not  clearly  defined,  produced  a  profound 
impression  upon  most  minds,  that  with  the  death  of  the  Illustrious 
Triumvirate,  whose  memory  these  obsequies  were  designed  to  honor, 
a  great  gulf  has  been  opened  between  the  present  and  the  past  of  the 
country — that  we  are  entering  upon  a  new  era  in  our  national 
career,  without  the  counsels  that  have  thus  far  been  our  guides — the 
genius  that  has  illuminated  our  way — the  eloquence  and  wisdom  we 
have  been  accustomed  to  invoke,  and  have  never  found  to  fail  us  in 
moments  of  peril  or  doubt.  The  sense  of  national  deprivation  and 
national  loss  is  thus  obscurely  mingled  with  misgivings  for  the  future — 
which  a  rigid  examination  by  reason  might  not  altogether  justify, — but 
which  testifies  to  the  vast  space  occupied  in  men's  thoughts  and  hearts 
by  the  Great  Dead. 

We  are  not  of  those  who  believe  that  nature  exhausts  itself  in 
any  age  in  the  production  of  great  minds :  or  that  any  epoch  will  be 
found  in  human  history  without  the  evolvement  of  the  genius  to 
grapple  with  events  and  shape  them  to  the  ends  of  human  progress. 
Others  will  rise  to  take  the  mastery  of  their  own  generation,  to 
become  orators,  philosophers,  statesmen,  for  those  who  come  after  us. 


PREFACE.  5 

But  the  events  and  the  training  by  which  they  are  to  be  raised  to  the 
height  of  matured  intellect  and  power  to  which  these  had  attained  in 
the  acknowledged  estimate  of  their  cotemporaries,  lie  in  that  undis- 
covered future,  into  which  we  strain  our  thoughts  vainly  to  penetrate. 
We  have  seen  them  in  the  fullness  of  their  development,  and  we 
mourn  them,  not  as  men  with  whom  greatness  and  virtue  and  elo- 
quence have  perished  from  the  land,  but  because  we  know  what  they 
were,  and  what  they  have  done,  and  were  capable  of  doing :  and  we 
do  not  know  who  is  to  be  the  CALHOUN,  the  CLAY,  or  the  WEBSTER 
of  the  time  that  we  feel  to  be  coming,  when  we  know  that  we  shall 
need  them.  There  is  no  want  of  faith  in  Providence  or  trust  in 
humanity,  in  the  mingling  of  these  doubts  for  the  future  with  the 
grateful  memories  of  the  past,  and  the  reverent  homage  we  pay  to  the 
great  endowments  and  great  virtues  with  which  the  subjects  of  these 
funeral  tributes  have  elevated  and  adorned  the  American  name. 

Among  the  superstitions  of  the  heathens  prevalent  in  all  times, 
but  most  known  to  us  in  the  literature  of  the  classics,  is  that  which 
supposes  the  spirits  of  the  dead  to  be  pleased  and  composed  by  the 
honors  paid  to  their  mortal  remains.  Hence  the  ancients  instituted 
expensive  games  and  sacrifices  for  the  dead.  Among  barbarous 
nations  the  sentiment  runs  into  cruel  excesses,  corresponding  with 
the  character  of  the  race,  in  offering  that  which  was  most  exciting  to 
the  pride  and  passions  of  the  living,  as  a  tribute  after  death.  The  Iliad 
closes  with  a  gorgeous  account  of  the  pomp  with  which  Troy  exhibited 
her  acute  grief  for  the  death  of  her  great  champion. 

"  Such  honors  Ilion  to  her  hero  paid, 

And  peaceful  slept  the  mighty  Hector's  shade." 

A  purer  code  has  reformed  the  philosophy  of  this  belief  and 
changed  the  manner  of  its  manifestations,  but  the  sentiment  which 
gave  rise  to  it  is  eternal  and  universal.  The  great  pass  away,  and 


6  PREFACE. 

we  do  not  now  institute  games,  or  slaughter  oxen,  or  build  up  sacri- 
fices. We  think  not  that  their  shades  will  repose  more  or  less  quietly 
from  any  manifestation  of  our  reverence  and  regret.  But  we  give 
vent  to  natural  and  honorable  emotions  ;  and  though  the  rest  of  the 
dead  may  not  be  stirred  to  any  human  joy  by  any  thing  done  for 
their  honor  on  earth,  we  know  and  feel  that  many  a  living  heart, 
strained  with  cares,  and  striving  against  doubts  and  discouragements 
in  the  steep  ascent  to  fame,  will  be  soothed  and  strengthened  in  its 
tasks,  and  borne  onward  and  upward  in  its  aspirations,  by  these 
majestic  tokens  of  the  homage  which  genius  wins  from  the  world. 
They  set  up  beacons  upon  which  longing  eyes  gaze  intently  in 
absorbing  veneration  for  the  past, — and  swelling  souls  find  in  them  a 
perpetual  motive  and  unfailing  support  in  the  toils  and  exertions  of 
public  life.  They  are  the  aliment  upon  which  young  ambition  feeds 
and  hardens  until  it  is  able  to  achieve  the  greatness  it  emulates,  and 
to  earn  the  lofty  rewards  of  posthumous  renown,  the  aspiration  after 
which  first  fired  its  zeal. 

In  the  contemplation  of  these  unstinted  honors  to  the  memory  of 
CALHOUN,  CLAY  and  WEBSTER,  not  only  will  many  an  obscure  youth 
find  stimulants  to  perseverance  in  the  path  of  public  duty,  but  living 
statesmen  yet  in  the  heat  of  conflict,  may  find  in  them  the  consoling 
assurance  of  a  just  appreciation,  when  they,  too,  shall  have  emerged 
into  an  atmosphere  cleared  of  the  partisan  mists  of  the  day.  To  that 
serene  region,  Death  raises  them  at  once.  There  the  prejudices  of 
the  time  vanish,  and  the  instincts  of  justice,  gratitude  and  reverence 
resume  their  sway.  The  dead  have  no  longer  partisans  or  enemies 
among  their  countrymen.  We  all  join  to  do  honor  to  their  memory — 
to  claim  an  equal  share  in  their  renown — to  mourn  together  over  their 
loss, — and  to  unite  as  kindred  to  plant  laurels  upon  their  tombs. 


A  HISTORY 


OF  THE   PROCEEDINGS   IN  THE  CITY   OF  NEW   ORLEANS,  ON  THE  OCCASION   OF  THE 

FDNERAL  CEREMONIES  IN  HONOR  OF  CALHOUN,  CLAY  AND  WEBSTER, 

WHICH  TOOK  PLACE  ON  THURSDAY,  DECEMBER  9th,  1852. 


The  intelligence  of  the  death  of  DANIEL  WEBSTER  was  first  made 
known  in  New  Orleans,  by  the  publication  of  an  extra  issued  from  the 
office  of  the  Picayune,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  day  on  which  the 
illustrious  American  died.  The  event,  which  threw  the  greatest  nation 
of  the  world  into  unfeigned  mourning,  took  place  at  the  country 
residence  of  the  deceased,  Marshfield,  Massachusetts,  at  3  o'clock,  on 
the  morning  of  Sunday,  October  24th,  1852.  The  Picayune  alone, 
received  the  sad  news  that  day,  by  telegraph,  and  immediately  pub- 
lished it,  accompanied  by  the  following  message,  promptly  issued  by 
the  Hon.  A.  D.  Grossman,  Mayor  of  this  city. 

MAYORALTY  OF  NEW  ORLEANS, 
October  24, 1852. 

The  American  people  are  again  bowed  down  in  grief  for  the  lose  of  one  of  their  greatest  and 
most  patriotic  statesmen.  DANIEL  WEBSTER,  whose  matchless  intellect  towered  above  all  his 
compeers,  is  no  more.  Of  that  mighty  trio — CLAY,  CALHOUN  and  WEBSTER — each  one  of  whom 
devoted  a  lifetime  to  his  country's  cause,  and  whose  dying  breath  was  yielded  up  in  the  service  of  a 
grateful  and  admiring,  but  now,  alas  !  afflicted  people,  the  last  has  been  gathered  to  the  tomb  of 
his  fathers.  But  a  few  short  months  since,  the  nation  was  called  upon  to  mourn  the  loss  of  HENRY 
CLAY,  and  now  again  the  funeral  pall  is  spread  over  the  land  at  the  announcement  of  the  death  of 
DANIEL  WEBSTER. 

And  while  a  nation's  tears  are  flowing  at  this  national  bereavement,  it  is  fitting  that  we  should 
display  the  outward  simbols  of  woe,  as  an  evidence — feeble  and  inadequate  though  the  expression 
may  be — of  the  affection,  esteem,  admiration  and  reverence  in  which  the  lamented  deceased  was 
held  in  this  community.  For  DANIEL  WEBSTER,  though  calling  himself  a  citizen  of  Massachusetts, 
was  emphatically  a  national  man  in  the  broadest  sense  of  the  term. 

Therefore,  I,  A.  D.  Grossman,  Mayor  of  the  City  of  New  Orleans,  do  issue  this  my  proclamation, 
recommending  to  my  fellow-citizens  as  a  token  of  respect  for  the  departed  statesman,  to  abstain 
from  their  ordinary  business  associations  on  Monday  next,  the  25th  hist  I  also  recommend  that 
the  flags  be  displayed  during  the  day  at  half-mast  from  the  various  public  buildings,  and  from 
vessels  and  steamboats  in  port,  and  that  minute  guns  be  fired  from  sunrise  to  sunset,  the  command- 
ing officers  being  authorized  to  carry  this  order  into  execution. 

It  is  expected  that  the  various  offices  of  the  City  Government,  as  well  as  all  other  public 
offices,  be  closed  after  12  o'clock,  on  that  day. 

(Signed)  A.  D.  GROSSMAN,  Mayor. 


8  HISTORYOFTHE 


That  important  and  responsible  body,  the  Whig  Central  Execu- 
tive Committee  of  the  State  of  Louisiana,  held  a  special  meeting, 
and  published  the  following  feeling  and  appropriate  remarks  and 

resolutions : 

SUNDAY  APTBBNOON,  Oct.  24, 1852. 

The  Intelligence  of  the  death  of  DANIEL  WEBSTER  having  been  communicated  to  this  Com- 
mittee, the  following  preamble  and  resolutions  were  unanimously  adopted : 

Another  great  name  has  been  added  to  the  list  of  the  dead !  Another  bright  star  blotted  out 
from  the  galaxy  of  the  nation  1  Another  constellation  of  genius,  the  rays  of  which  have  penetrated 
the  darkest  corners  of  the  earth,  has  set  forever  in  the  horizon  I  The  triumvirate  of  gigantic 
intellect  extols  no  more  t  CALHOUN,  CLAY  and  WEBSTEB,  each  in  his  turn  has  obeyed  the  inexorable 
decrees  of  fata  The  mightiest  intellect  of  the  age — the  great  expounder  of  the  Constitution — the 
patriotic  and  bold  advocate  of  the  Compromise — the  man  who  submitted  to  the  sacrifice  of  violent 
sectional  opposition,  in  order  that  he  might  do  his  duty  to  his  whole  country — the  great  defender 
of  American  rights,  and  the  liberty  of  mankind — DANIEL  WEBSTEB,  is  dead. 

A  whole  nation  is  again  bowed  down  in  sorrow.  While  yet  we  grieve  for  the  loss  of  the 
immortal  CLAY,  we  are  called  upon  again  to  mourn.  Upon  the  wings  of  lightning — fit  messenger  to 
symbolize  and  convey  the  great  loss  the  American  people  has  sustained — the  intelligence  of  his  death 
has  sped  itself  to  every  corner  of  the  land.  "The  Union,  now  and  forever,  one  and  inseparable," 
has  lost  its  great  supporter.  For  near  half  a  century  he  has  been  to  the  Constitution  an  American 
Atlas — upon  his  broad  shoulders  he  has  borno  it  manfully,  repelling  successfully  attacks  upon  it 
from  every  quarter,  until  the  name  of  DANIEL  WEBSTEB  and  the  American  Constitution  have 
become  almost  "  one  and  indivisibla" 

The  great  Whig  party  of  the  country  has  lost  another  of  its  distinguished  leaders — all  that  is 
left  to  it  of  him  is  the  consciousness  of  his  immortality — the  remembrance  of  his  virtues — the 
admiration  of  his  genius.  The  measure  of  his  greatness  was  full  to  overflowing.  Proud  would  wo 
have  been  as  Whigs  to  have  battled  under  his  leadership,  to  have  followed  his  standard  to  victory ; 
but  it  was  decreed  by  an  all-wise  Providence  that  no  more  of  earth's  ephemeral  honors  should  be 
conferred  upon  him,  but  that  the  mighty  monarch,  Death,  should  place  upon  his  brow  the  seal  of 
immortality.  While  we  bend  with  fitting  humility  to  the  inscrutable  decree  that  has  deprived  our 
country  of  one  of  its  brightest  ornaments,  we  feel  we  should  be  wanting  in  our  duty  as  Americans 
did  we  fail  to  offer  this,  our  humble  tribute,  to  the  memory  of  DANIEL  WKBSTEB.  Be  it  therefore 

Resolved,  That  the  Whig  Central  Executive  Committee  of  Louisiana  tender  to  our  brother 
Whigs  of  Louisiana  and  the  entire  country,  our  sincere  and  heartfelt  sorrow  and  profound  sympathy 
for  the  great  loss  our  country  and  our  party  has  sustained  in  the  death  of  DANIEL  WEBSTEB. 

liuolvtd,  That  the  committee  room  be  draped  with  the  usual  emblems  of  mourning,  and  the 
members  wear  the  usual  badge  for  thirty  days. 

Rtsalttd,  That  a  copy  of  the  foregoing  preamble  and  resolutions  be  forwarded  to  the  afflicted 
relatives  of  the  deceased. 

(Signed)  I.  N.  MARKS,  President. 

E.  SOLOMON,  Secretary. 

The  next  morning,  the  Democratic  State  Central  Committee 
published  the  following  preamble  and  resolutions  : 

The  intelligence  of  the  death  of  DANIEL  WEBSTER  having  been  communicated  to  the  Com- 
mitte<y the  following  preamble  and  resolutions  were  unanimously  adopted : 

Whereas,  DANIEL  WEBSTEB  has  passed  away  from  among  the  people  of  this  nation,  a  mighty 
man,  whose  name  is  part  and  parcel  of  the  glory  of  our  common  country.  Therefore, 


FUNERAL     CEREMONIES. 


Resolved,  That  the  Democratic  State  Central  Committee  of  Louisiana  most  deeply  sympathise 
with  all  their  fellow-citizens  in  this  great  national  loss. 

Resolved,  That  this  committee  do  most  heartily  proffer  to  the  Mayor  of  New  Orleans,  its  co- 
operation in  any  measures  which  the  city  may  deem  proper  to  take  hi  honor  of  the  illustnovis 
dead. 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  transmitted  to  the  near  relatives  of  the  deceased. 

FMTT.K  LA  SERE,  President 
J.  L.  LEVY,  Secretary. 

The  melancholy  intelligence,  though  daily  expected  for  some 
time  previous,  struck  every  heart  with  the  suddeness  of  a  thunderbolt. 
It  could  scarcely  be  realized.  A  silent  sorrow  pervaded  the  vast  city ; 
the  abstracted  looks  and  sombre  expression  of  every  man's  counte- 
nance indicated  how  busy  his  thoughts  were  with  the  stores  of 
reminiscences  of  the  departed  orator,  which  he  had  cherished  even 
from  his  school  days.  This  universal  feeling  found  embodiment  the 
morning  after  the  news  was  received,  Monday,  October  25th,  in  a 
public  meeting,  held  at  very  short  notice,  in  the  large  public  hall  at 
Banks's  Arcade,  on  Magazine  street. 

The  hall  was  crowded,  our  oldest  and  most  respected  and  influ- 
ential citizens,  of  all  occupations  and  nations,  joining  heartily  and 
promptly  in  the  impromptu  demonstration.  The  following  officers 
were  called  upon  to  preside: 

PRESIDENT — Mayor  Grossman. 

VICE  PRESIDENTS — T.  A.  Adams,  J.  N.  Howell,  D.  S.  Dewes,  M. 
Garcia,  J.  L.  Carman,  A.  M.  Holbrook,  J.  L.  Levey,  E.  Lapere,  J. 
C.  Larue,  A.  Musson,  G.  C.  Lawrason,  Col.  Palfrey,  Col.  Hays,  E. 
H.  Durell,  N.  R.  Jennings,  J.  A.  Clark,  A.  W.  Tufts,  C.  C.  Lathrop, 
I.  Bridge,  B.  Fallon,  G.  B.  Duncan,  Col.  Monaghan,  J.  A.  Beard,  R. 
B.  Sykes,  J.  L.  Winter,  S.  C.  Reid,  A.  Munroe,  B.  Florence,  C.  M. 
Waterman,  N.  E.  Bailey,  F.  Leach,  J.  J.  Durant,  J.  G.  Dunlap,  H.  S. 
Barton. 

SECRETARIES — H.  Marks,  Warren  A.  Grice,  Durant  da  Ponte,  D. 
Scully. 

The  President  briefly  explained  the  object  of  the  meeting.  "  We 
have  assembled,"  he  said,  "  to  make  arrangements  to  pay  a  suitable 
token  of  regret  at  the  death  of  the  great  orator,  statesman  and  pacifi- 
cator, whose  loss  we  mourn  to-day  ;  and  all  citizens,  irrespective  of 
party,  will  join  in  this  tribute."  B 


10  HISTOBYOFTHE 


On  motion,  the  following  committee  was  appointed  by  the  Presi- 
dent to  prepare  suitable  resolutions  :  G.  B.  Duncan,  N.  R.  Jennings, 
Col.  Monaghan,  J.  C.  Larue,  Isaac  Bridge,  Thomas  A.  Adams,  I.  N. 
Marks,  Col.  Seymour,  W.  L.  Gushing,  Alexander  Walker. 

The  committee  retired,  and  whilst  they  were  out,  the  meeting 
was  addressed  by  Mr.  E.  J.  Carrell,  of  the  Crescent  newspaper,  and 
Hon.  John  C.  Larue,  Judge  of  the  First  District  Court  of  this  city. 
Their  remarks  were  listened  to  with  deep  silence  and  with  an  eager 
attention  which  showed  how  strong  was  the  emotion  which  pulsed  in 
the  hearts  of  the  crowded  audience.  Judge  Larue  came  forward 
after  loud  calls,  and  delivered  a  beautiful  eulogy  on  the  character  of 
the  deceased.  He  admitted  that  he,  and  those  of  his  political  creed, 
had  often-times  differed  with  Mr.  "Webster  on  the  political  questions 
of  the  times,  but  all  had  always  admired  the  towering  genius,  the 
eloquent  tongue,  and  gigantic  mind  of  the  champion  of  our  country's 
honor,  who  had  given  it  a  broad  name,  upon  which  all  the  nations  of 
the  civilized  world  looked  with  admiration  and  respect.  He  admired 
Mr.  Webster  most  when,  in  opposition  to  the  expressed  opinion  of 
his  own  State,  of  his  own" city,  and  all  the  prejudices  which  could  be 
brought  to  bear  upon  him,  he  boldly  walked  up  to  the  breach,  with 
Clay  and  his  associates,  and  laid  down  his  prejudices  on  the  altar  of 
his  country.  The  South  was  most  indebted  to  him,  in  gratitude  for 
defending  her  rights  when  they  were  in  peril.  May  the  roses  bloom 
o'er  his  grave,  till  the  earth  crumbles  into  dust ! 

Many  were  moved  to  tears  at  the  conclusion  of  the  speaker's 
deeply  pathetic  remarks. 

The  committee  then  reported  the  following  preamble  and  reso- 
lutions, which  were  unanimously  adopted,  and  then  the  meeting 
adjourned : 

The  sensation  which  pervaded  our  entire  Republic,  caused  by  the  removal  of  one  of  its  purest, 
ablest,  and  most  illustrious  patriots  and  statesmen,  baa  scarcely  subsided,  and  again  the  inscrutable 
decrees  of  Providence  have  smitten  us  with  affliction,  which  human  language  is  inadequate  to 
portray.  The  last  of  the  three  greatest  men  of  modern  times — the  admiration  of  the  civilized 
world — the  ornament,  the  pride,  the  boast  of  the  American  people — has  descended  to  the  tomb— 
DANIEL  WEBSTER  is  no  more. 

JVhfle  we  bow  before  the  throne  of  Omnipotence,  and  humbly  confess  the  justice  of  Him  who 
afflicts  his  children  only  for  their  good,  it  is  meet  that  wn  manifest  the  feelings  which  pervade  our 
hearts,  by  striving  to  convey  to  our  fellow-citizens  a  faint  description  of  their  intensity.  Therefore, 


FUNERAL    CEREMONIES.  11 

Resolved,  That,  as  American  citizens,  we  cannot  without  the  deepest  and  most  overwhelming 
emotion,  contemplate  the  loss  of  those  three  master-spirits  whose  giant  intellects,  consummate 
statesmanship,  and  unassuming  patriotism,  contributed  so  much  to  give  tone  to  the  present  age, 
and  earned  for  this  people  a  fame  that  can  never  perish — our  CALHOUN — CLAT — WEBSTEB. 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  ten  citizens  be  appointed  by  his  Honor  the  Mayor,  to  confer  with 
similar  committees  of  the  Common  Council,  and  other  public  bodies,  who  shall  constitute  a  general 
committee  of  arrangements,  for  the  purpose  of  selecting  a  day,  and  making  the  necessary  prepara- 
tion for  a  solemn  funeral  pageant,  in  honor  of  the  great  dead. 

The  U.  S.  District  Court,  the  City  District  Courts,  Recorders 
Courts,  and  public  offices,  Federal,  State  and  Municipal,  all  adjourned 
on  Monday  morning,  in  honor  of  the  memory  of  the  illustrious  deceased, 
whilst  the  citizens  generally  draped  their  stores  and  residences  in 
mourning.  The  public  buildings  wore  similar  symbols  of  woe ;  the 
flags  of  the  fleet  of  shipping  and  steamboats  in  port  floated  at  half- 
mast  ;  the  solomn  bells  tolled  mournfully  on  the  ear,  and  the  deep 
mouthed  cannon  filled  up  at  intervals,  in  muttering  thunder  tones,  the 
pauses  of  sad  silence. 

On  Tuesday  evening,  Oct.  26th,  the  City  Council  met  in  accor- 
dance with  the  special  call  of  the  Mayor,  who  addressed  to  the  Boards 
of  Aldermen  and  Assistant  Aldermen,  the  following  message  : 

MAYORALTY  OF  NEW  OBLEANS,  OCT.  26, 1852. 

To  the  honorable  President  and  Members  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen  and  the  Assistant  Board  of 
Aldermen  of  the  city  of  New  Orleans : 

Gentlemen — I  have  caused  you  to  be  convoked  this  day  for  the  purpose  of  taking  a  becoming 
action  on  the  death  of  the  great  American  statesman,  DANIEL  WEBSTEB.  On  the  receipt  of  the 
melancholy  intelligence  on  Sunday,  I  issued  a  proclamation  recommending  to  my  fellow-citizens  to 
abstain  from  their  ordinary  business  avocations  on  Monday,  and  to  display  the  usual  emblems  of 
mourning,  as  a  testimonial  of  the  reverence  and  esteem  in  which  this  mighty  pillar  of  the  Republic 
was  held.  I  am  happy  and  proud  to  say  that  this  recommendation  was  very  generally  observed ; 
but  the  people  of  New  Orleans,  yielding  to  none  other  in  their  admiration  of  that  genius,  patriotism 
and  eloquence,  the  like  of  which  may  not  be  sought  for  since  the  last  of  the  great  triumvirate — 
CALHOUN,  CLAY,  WEBSTEB — has  paid  the  debt  of  nature,  deem  that  an  occasion  so  afflicting,  and 
which  has  bowed  down  a  whole  nation  in  mourning,  should  be  marked  by  a  more  formal  observance 
than  the  hasty  but  sincere  expression  of  feeling  manifested  yesterday. 

Accordingly,  a  public  meeting  was  held  at  the  Arcade  yesterday ;  at  which,  among  other 
appropriate  and  expressive  resolutions,  it  was  resolved,  "  That  a  committee  of  ten  citizens  be 
appointed  by  the  Mayor,  to  confer  with  similar  committees  of  the  Common  Council,  and  other 
public  bodies,  who  shall  constitute  a  General  Committee  of  Arrangements,  for  the  purpose  of 
selecting  a  day  and  making  the  necessary  preparations  for  a  solemn  funeral  pageant  in  honor  of  the 
great  dead.'1  In  conformity  with  this  resolution,  I  beg  to  apprise  your  honorable  body  that  I  have 
appointed  the  following  gentlemen  on  that  committee,  and  would  respectfully  urge  the  nomination 
of  a  joint  committee  on  the  part  of  the  Common  Council,  to  co-operate  with  the  citizens  in  paying 
a  tribute  worthy  of  the  city  of  New  Orleans  to  the  memory  of  the  departed  statesman  and  patriot, 
DANIEL  WEBSTEK. 


12  HIST  ORY     OF     THE 


Committee—  Samuel  J.  Peters,  John  R.  Grymes,  A.  M.  Holbrook,  W.  L.  Gushing,  Win.  Monaghan, 
T.  A.  Adams,  Joseph  Genois,  John  L.  Lewie,  Manuel  Garcia,  H.  R.  W.  HilL 
I  hare  the  honor  to  be,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

A.  D.  GROSSMAN,  Mayor. 

In  the  Board  of  Aldermen  a  committee  of  four,  consisting  of 
Messrs.  Harris,  Labatut,  Lugenbuhl  and  Burke,  was  appointed  to 
confer  with  the  committees  previously  named,  as  to  the  manner  of 
paying  suitable  honor  to  the  memory  of  the  great  dead. 

It  was  also  resolved  that  the  members  of  this  Board  should  wear 
the  badge  of  mourning  for  thirty  days. 

In  the  Board  of  Assistant  Aldermen,  after  the  reading  of  the 
Mayor's  message,  the  following  resolutions,  presented  by  Mr.  Forbes, 
were  unanimously  adopted : 

Be  it  Retohed,  That  in  the  death  of  DANIEL  WEBSTER  the  Union  has  lost  a  great  support,  and 
the  American  people  a  magnificent  representative. 

Retained,  That  the  death  of  a  truly  great  statesman,  such  as  DANIEL  WEBSTEB  was,  is  a 
mournful  dispensation,  which  calls  for  the  most  earnest  and  solemn  commemoration  of  such  a 
grave  national  affliction. 

Retained,  That  in  the  loss  of  so  great  a  man,  whose  merits  were  grand  in  the  dignity  of  the 
statesman,  the  eloquence  of  the  orator,  the  wisdom  of  the  negotiator,  and  the  nationality  of  the 
American,  our  country  realizes  an  impoverishment  of  national  fame  and  national  intellect. 

Retained,  That  we  are  fully  prepared  to  join  in  any  demonstration  expressive  of  our  con- 
sciousness of  this  public  calamity,  and  that  for  six  months  the  Council  chambers  be  shrouded  in  the 
usual  emblem  of  mourning. 

A  committee  of  eight  members  :  Messrs.  Nixon,  Place,  Heerman, 
Burthe,  Derbes,  Dolhonde,  Watkins,  and  Philbrick,  was  appointed  to 
act  in  conjunction  with  the  committees  appointed  by  the  Mayor,  by 
the  meeting  at  the  Arcade,  and  the  Board  of  Aldermen. 

On  the  morning  of  Saturday,  October  30th,  the  members  of  the 
Bar  of  New  Orleans  met  in  the  Supreme  Court  room,  for  the  purpose 
of  taking  the  share  in  the  general  ceremonial  which  the  long  and 
brilliant  connection  of  the  deceased  with  their  profession  entitled  them 
to  and  made  it  incumbent  on  them  to  assume. 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  M.  M.  Cohen,  Esq.,  and 
Mr.  E.  A.  Bradford,  of  Massachusetts,  one  of  the  most  prominent  and 
respected  members  of  the  legal  profession  in  this  city,  was  called  upon 
to  preside. 

On  taking  the  chair,  Mr.  Bradford  addressed  the  meeting  for 
about  twenty  minutes  in  a  strain  of  happy  eloquence,  distinguished  for 


m 

FUNERAL     CEREMONIES.  13 


classic  beauty  and  elegant  diction  and  sentiment  to  a  degree  as  pleasing 
to  the  taste,  as  it  was  touching  to  the  feelings  of  his  listeners. 

At  the  close  of  his  remarks,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  draft 
and  report  resolutions  appropriate  to  the  occasion. 

During  the  absence  of  the  committee,  Mr.  Rand,  a  young  member 
of  the  Bar,  delivered  a  very  beautiful  and  touching  address  relative  to 
the  character  and  great  mental  qualities  of  the  deceased.  The  meet- 
ing was  also  addressed  by  the  Hon.  J.  P.  Benjamin,  U.  S.  Senator 
elect,  in  an  impromptu  discourse  clothed  in  the  distinguished  gentle- 
man's usual  clear  and  felicitous  language. 

The  committee  then  reported  the  resolutions  appended,  which 
were  unanimously  adopted.  They  were  afterwards,  on  motion  of 
J.  R.  Grymes,  Esq.,  on  behalf  of  Isaac  Johnson,  Attorney  General  of 
the  State,  ordered  to  be  spread  on  the  minutes  of  the  Supreme  Court. 

Inasmuch  as  it  hath  pleased  Divine  Providence  to  remove  from  our  midst  the  Honorable 
DANIEL  WEBSTEB,  the  acknowledged  head  of  the  American  Bar,  his  professional  brethren  of  the 
city  of  New  Orleans,  entertaining  a  profound  veneration  for  his  memory,  as  an  expression  of  their 
sentiments,  do  resolve : 

1st.  That  in  contemplating  the  character  of  the  deceased  as  a  Lawyer,  we  have  just  cause  to  be 
proud  of  his  transcendent  abilities  and  natural  endowments,  which  had  been  cultivated  with  untiring 
industry  through  a  long  life.  His  arguments  were  remarkable  for  their  compact  and  lofty  freedom, 
power  and  application.  To  use  the  apt  language  of  a  great  man  in  reference  to  a  kindred  genius, 
he  was  eminently  distinguished  for  completely  exhausting  every  subject  he  discussed,  and  left  no 
argument  on  the  other  side  unnoticed  and  unanswered.  The  reported  cases  fall  immeasurably 
short  of  doing  any  sort  of  justice  to  his  powerful  intellect  and  accurate  logic,  to  the  extent  of  his 
knowledge,  or  the  eloquence  of  his  illustrations.  He  stated  principles,  and  enlarged  .and  explained 
them,  until  those  who  heard  him  were  lost  in  admiration  at  the  strength  and  power  of  the  human 
understanding.  Upon  the  dry  technical  rules  of  law  he  shed  the  illumination  of  his  mighty  mind, 
and  those  subjects  in  our  profession  which  are  regarded  as  harsh  and  forbidding,  were  by  his  just 
taste,  the  purity  and  elegance  of  his  style,  clothed  with  the  attractions  of  a  liberal  science  and  the 
embellishment  of  polite  literature. 

3d.  That  the  members  of  the  Bar  of  New  Orleans  entertain  the  conviction  that  the  matchless 
solidity,  purity,  and  patriotic  nationality  of  hia  works,  will  ensure  their  preservation  through  all 
coming  ages  as  an  imperishable  monument  of  his  genius,  and  that  they  will  ever  be  regarded  by 
our  citizens  as  masterly  expositions  of  the  spirit  of  the  laws  which  give  living  power  to  our  consti- 
tutional fabric  of  government,  in  which  he  saw  with  his  great  compeer  in  the  profession,  "  a  pledge 
of  the  immortality  of  the  Union.'1 

3d.  That  a  copy  of  the  foregoing  resolutions  be  handed  to  the  Attorney  General,  to  be  by  him 
presented  to  the  Supreme  Court,  with  the  request  that  the  same  be  entered  upon  the  minutes  of 
said  Court  on  the  first  day  of  the  meeting  of  the  coming  session,  and  that  a  like  copy  be  handed  to 
the  District  Attorney  of  the  United  States,  to  be  presented  to  the  Circuit  Court,  with  the  request 
that  they  be  entered  upon  the  records  of  the  said  Court. 

4th.  That  a  committee  of  five  be  appointed  by  the  chair  to  select  gentlemen  to  deliver  eulogies 
upon  the  life  and  character  of  HENRY  CLAY  and  DANIEL  WEBSTEB,  and  that  said  committee  be 


14  HISTORY     OF     THE 

also  requested  to  confer  with  the  Hon.  George  Eustis,  as  to  the  eulogy  to  be  by  him  delivered  upon 
the  life  and  character  of  JOHN  C.  CAI.BOCN. 

5th.    That  the  members  of  the  Bar  will  wear  the  usual  badge  of  mourning  for  thirty  days. 

6th,  That  a  copy  of  the  foregoing  resolutions  be  sent  to  the  family  of  the  deceased,  with  the 
expression  of  the  sympathy  of  the  members  of  this  Bar  in  their  irreparable  loss. 

A  committee  was  then  appointed  in  accordance  with  the  resolu- 
tions. 

On  Monday  morning,  November  1st,  at  the  opening  of  the  U.  S. 
Circuit  Court,  Logan  Hunton,  Esq.,  U.  S.  Attorney,  announced  the 
decease  of  Hon.  John  McKinley,  one^  of  the  Associate  Judges  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  ;  of  the  Hon.  HENRY  CLAY,  and 
of  the  Hon.  DANIEL  WEBSTER,  as  having  occurred  since  the  adjourn- 
ment of  the  Court  in  June  last ;  and  on  moving  an  adjournment  as  a 
mark  of  respect  to  the  deceased,  paid  a  feeling  tribute  to  their 
memories,  which  was  eloquently  responded  to  by  his  Honor  Theo. 
H.  McCaleb.  Whereupon  the  court  adjourned. 

On  Friday,  November  15th,  at  12  o'clock,  the  committee  of 
citizens  appointed  by  Mayor  Grossman,  met  for  the  first  time  in  the 
City  Hall,  in  the  chamber  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen.  The  committees 
from  the  Boards  of  Aldermen  and  Assistant  Aldermen  were  present. 
H.  R.  W.  Hill,  Esq.,  one  of  our  oldest  and  most  influential  merchants, 
was  called  to  the  chair,  and  Alderman  J.  O.  Nixon  and  Col.  William 
Monaghan  were  appointed  Secretaries. 

The  chairman  explained  the  object  of  the  meeting.  On  sugges- 
tion, it  was  resolved,  that  the  committee  appointed  at  the  meeting  of 
the  Bar  should  be  invited  to  unite  in  making  arrangements. 

Alderman  Harris  remarked,  that  he  thought  it  proper  that  any 
or  all  of  the  societies  of  the  city  ought  to  be  invited  to  take  a  part  in 
the  proceedings. 

Col.  Hill  stated  his  own  individual  views  to  be,  that  in  any 
arrangements  which  might  be  made,  the  spirit  of  liberality  and  fellow- 
ship should  be  extended  to  all  societies  and  classes  of  citizens  ;  that 
the  platform  should  be  made  broad  enough  to  embrace  all  associations, 
trades  and  public  bodies,  and  that  a  day  should  be  appointed  when 
all  persons  should  rest  from  their  usual  labors,  and  cordially  unite  in 
making  an  imposing  and  grand  funeral  rite  in  honor  of  the  memory 
of  the  great  departed. 


FUNERAL     CEREMONIES.  15 

On  motion  of  Alderman  Lugenbuhl,  the  chair  appointed  a  sub- 
committee of  eight,  to  prepare  a  programme,  and  report  to  the  General 
Committee  at  a  future  day. 

The  chair  appointed  the  following  gentlemen  :  Aldermen  Lugen- 
buhl and  Harris,  on  the  part  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen  ;  Aldermen 
Place  and  Watkins,  on  the  part  of  the  Board  of  Assistants ;  Messrs. 
Holbrook  and  Gushing,  on  the  part  of  the  citizens  ;  and  Messrs.  Cohen 
and  Elmore,  on  the  part  of  the  bar.  On  motion,  the  Chairman,  Col. 
Hill,  was  added  to  the  committee. 

From  the  first,  the  revered  names  of  CALHOUN,  CLAY  and  WEB- 
STER, had  been  so  spontaneously  united  in  the  thoughts  and  regrets 
of  every  one,  and  the  expression  of  sorrow  for  their  loss,  and  admira- 
tion for  their  characters  and  services  occurred  so  constantly  and 
prominently  in  all  the  meetings  that  had  taken  place,  that  it  was  no 
matter  of  astonishment  or  opposition  when  the  Sub-Committee,  at  their 
first  meeting,  resolved  to  report  in  favor  of  a  solemn  funeral  ceremony 
in  honor,  not  of  WEBSTER  alone,  but  of  his  great  compeers,  CALHOUN 
and  CLAY,  with  him.  The  idea  met  with  universal  approbation,  and 
the  more  so  that  there  was  a  general  consciousness  that  the  city  had 
not  acted  with  a  due  regard  to  its  own  dignity  in  passing  over  without 
municipal  notice  and  ceremony,  the  deaths  of  such  illustrious  Ameri- 
cans, patriots,  statesmen  and  orators,  as  JOHN  C.  CALHOUN  and  HENRY 
CLAY.  There  had  long  been  a  desire  to  repair  this  apparent  neglect, 
and  the  opportunity  to  do  so  now  offered,  was  eagerly  seized  upon. 
Besides,  it  struck  the  general  mind,  that  a  ceremony  uniting  the 
feelings  entertained  by  the  entire  community  towards  the  departed 
Triumvirate,  would  be  impressed  with  a  more  imposing  solemnity, 
commensurate  with  the  history  of  the  deceased  as  a  trio  in  the  nation's 
councils,  than  a  funeral  display  designed  to  honor  the  memory  of  only 
one  of  them.  The  latter  would  be  sectional ;  the  former,  national. 

The  Sub-Committee  went  actively  to  work  with  the  design  of 
preparing  for  this  general  ceremonial.  At  the  next  meeting  of  the 
General  Committee,  which  took  place  on  Thursday  evening,  November 
llth,  they  offered  through  Mr.  Lugenbuhl,  a  series  of  resolutions 
defining  the  plan  they  had  adopted.  A  funeral  procession  was  of 
course  to  bo  the  main  feature  of  the  occasion.  The  day  was  fixed  for 


16  HISTORY     OP     THE 


Thursday,  the  9th  December.  The  committee  also  recommended 
that  on  that  day  all  persons  should  be  desired  to  close  their  places  of 
business,  that  the  bells  of  the  churches  and  of  the  city  be  tolled,  that 
all  flags  on  the  shipping  be  hoisted  at  half-mast,  and  that  the  dwellings 
of  the  citizens  be  draped  in  mourning;  that  a  committee  be  appointed 
to  invite  the  military,  fire  department,  benevolent  and  other  societies 
to  join  in  the  procession;  that  Chief  Justice  Eustis  be  appointed  to 
deliver  the  eulogy  on  CALHODN,  Judge  McCaleb  that  on  CLAY,  and 
Christian  Roselius,  Esq.,  that  on  WEBSTER  ;  that  the  Committee  of 
Arrangements  appoint  thirty-one  pall  bearers,  one  from  each  State  in 
the  Union  ;  that  Col.  Labuzan  be  appointed  Grand  Marshal,  and  Gen. 
Tracy,  First  Assistant  Grand  Marshal  of  the  procession,  with  power  to 
appoint  their  aids,  one  from  each  district,  and  such  other  aids  as  they 
might  require,  after  consultation  with  the  Committee  of  Arrangements  ; 
and  that  the  Grand  Marshals  be  empowered  to  prepare  and  publish  a 
programme  of  the  procession. 

Mr.  Place,  on  behalf  of  the  Sub-Committee,  then  submitted  apian 
of  a  grand  Cenotaph,  with  pillars  and  other  beautiful  architectural 
ornaments,  after  a  plan  drawn  by  Mr.  Mondelli.  Lafayette  Square 
was  recommended  as  the  place  where  the  Cenotaph  should  be  erected, 
and  it  was  also  recommended  that  the  square  be  lighted  up  on  the 
evening  of  the  ceremony,  until  10  o'clock  at  night. 

Mr.  Cohen,  on  behalf  of  the  Sub-Committee,  reported  in  favor  of 
engaging  the  Odd  Fellows'  Hall,  Dr.  Scott's  Presbyterian  Church, 
and  the  Lyceum  Hall,  for  the  purpose  of  delivering  the  eulogies,  all 
of  which  it  was  determined  should  be  delivered  at  the  same  time. 
The  reports  of  the  sub-committees  were  unanimously  adopted,  with 
a  plan  of  a  funeral  car  designed  by  Mr.  Dubuque,  and  that  of  illumi- 
nating Lafayette  Square,  by  M.  Catoir. 

Messrs.  Harris,  Adams,  Durant,  Gushing  and  Heerman,  were 
appointed  a  Committee  of  Invitation. 

Messrs.  Cohen,  Lewis  and  Lugenbuhl  were  appointed  a  com- 
mittee to  inform  the  gentlemen  selected  as  the  orators,  of  their 
appointment. 

The  Sub-Committee,  consisting  of  Messrs.  Lugenbuhl,  Harris, 
Place,  Watkins,  Holbrook,  Gushing,  Cohen,  Elmore  and  Hill,  were 


FUNERAL     CERE  MONIES.  17 

then  appointed  to  act  as  the  Committee  of  Arrangements,  and  were 
clothed  with  full  power  to  carry  out  the  plans  already  adopted,  and  to 
take  such  other  steps  in  perfecting  them  as  they  might  deem  necessary. 

The  Sub-Committee  of  Arrangements  were  now  busily  occupied 
in  despatching  invitations  to  be  present  at  the  ceremonies,  to  all  parts 
of  the  country — to  Governors  of  States,  Mayors  of  Cities,  City 
Councils,  distinguished  citizens,  members  of  the  Federal  Government, 
and  especially,  as  a  mark  of  respect,  to  the  families  of  the  deceased. 
The  Sub-Committee  also  had  a  large  amount  of  labor  in  drawing 
up,  with  the  very  efficient  aid  of  the  Grand  Marshal,  Col.  Labuzan, 
Deputy  U.  S.  Marshal  for  this  district,  the  general  features  and  minute 
details  of  the  Programme  of  Ceremonies, 

On  Friday,  November  19th,  the  Sub-Committee  published  the 
following  circular,  the  object  of  which  will  be  seen  by  a  perusal: 

The  citizens  of  New  Orleans  have  set  aside  the  ninth  day  of  December  next,  for  the  celebration 
of  appropriate  Funeral  Ceremonies  in  respect  to  the  memory  of  the  deceased  Statesmen,  CALHOUN, 
CLAY  and  WBBSTES.  The  occasion  will  be  one  of  peculiar  solemnity  and  interest,  and  the  cere- 
monies will  be  of  a  grand  and  impressive  character. 

It  is  desirable  that  our  fellow  countrymen,  in  the  interior  and  at  a  distance,  sharing  in  the 
profound  emotions  of  reverence  for  the  illustrious  dead,  and  regret  for  the  bereavement  of  the 
nation  in  their  loss,  should  have  an  opportunity  to  take  a  part  hi  the  public  manifestations  of  these 
feelings.  The  Committee,  therefore,  express  the  hope  that  their  country  friends  of  this  and  the 
neighboring  States,  will  join  them  in  the  procession  of  that  day,  and  give  to  the  mournful  pageant 
a  more  imposing  aspect  as  a  wider  demonstration  of  the  national  grief. 

It  is  believed  that  a  large  assemblage  could  be  gathered  here,  without  sensible  inconvenience  to 
the  visitors  and  little  absolute  cost  Business  brings  great  numbers  to  the  city  during  the  winter, 
and  timely  arrangements  could,  in  many  cases,  make  that  time  quite  as  convenient  for  the  purpose 
as  any  other.  It  is  an  object,  however,  well  worthy  of  an  effort;  and  the  Committee  hope  to  see 
here  many  visitors,  representing  worthily  the  sympathies  of  the  people  of  other  places  in  the 
paying  of  these  Public  Honors  to  departed  Genius,  Virtue  and  Wisdom. 

(Signed  by  the  Committee.) 

The  above  circular  was  sent  to  the  interior.  On  the  18th 
November,  a  card  appeared  signed  by  Messrs.  R.  J.  Ward,  R.  W. 
Adams,  C.  Bullitt,  J.  T,  Belknap,  L.  McKnight,  Edward  Parmele, 
H.  S.  Buckner,  Tho.  Hunter,  M.  O.  H.  Norton,  Chas.  Harper,  H.  G. 
Adams,  L.  D.  Addison,  Jr.,  Logan  Hunton,  John  W.  Price,  J.  L. 
Armstrong,  Ben.  Bland,  Chas.  F.  Sands,  John  H.  Owen,  Geo.  F. 
Strother,  R.  W.  Kearney,  Edward  J.  Carrell,  F.  F.  Parmele,  Wm. 
Chambers,  Colville  Bell,  F.  S.  Browne,  A.  S.  Trotter,  Garnett  Duncan, 
J.  M.  Fimister — calling  on  Kentuckians  in  the  city  and  vicinity  to 


18  HI  STORY     Of    THE 

meet  that  evening,  for  the  purpose  of  making  preparations  to  join  as 
a  body  in  the  funeral  obsequies.  The  meeting  took  place,  but  as  no 
report  has  been  found,  no  account  of  its  details  can  be  given.  How- 
ever, Messrs.  E.  Parmele,  J.  L.  Armstrong  and  R.  W.  Adams  were 
appointed  a  committee  of  arrangements  on  the  part  of  the  Kentuckians, 
and  they  immediately  entered  actively  on  their  duties,  in  preparing 
banners,  music,  badges,  &c.,  and  in  urging  their  countrymen  to  turn 
out  in  strong  numbers  on  the  occasion. 

A 

On  the  21st  November,  a  notice  appeared  from  the  Grand 
Secretary  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  the  order  of  Masons  in  the  State, 
requesting  the  members  under  that  jurisdiction  "  to  join  the  public 
funeral  procession  and  ceremonies  in  honor  of  the  memories  of  those 
distinguished  statesmen  and  patriots,  Brothers  HENEY  CLAY,  JOHN  C. 
CALHOUN,  and  DANIEL  WEBSTER."  The  Brethren  were  directed  to 
assemble  on  the  day  of  the  ceremonies,  in  strict  Masonic  funeral  dress, 
at  the  Masonic  Hall,  corner  of  Baronne  and  Perdido  streets,  First 
District,  where  they  would  be  organized  by  the  Grand  Marshal,  G. 
W.  Race,  and  his  assistants.  Transient  Brethren  were  also  invited 
to  attend. 

On  the  27th  November,  a  notice  was  published  by  Messrs.  W. 
A.  Elmore,  C.  de  Choiseul,  M.  M.  Cohen,  Chas.  S.  Reese,  Richard 
Bremen,  L.  E.  Simonds,  S.  L.  &  E.  L.  Levy,  S.  M.  Westmore,  E. 
W.  Moise,  S.  Bonner,  T.  S.  Moise,  H.  C.  Gladden,  W.  D.  Smith, 
Geo.  W.  Cross,  M.  M.  Simpson,  J.  L.  Levy,  A.  C.  Labatt,  D.  C. 
Labatt,  J.  E.  Simonds,  W.  W.  Wood,  B.  N.  Moss,  J.  H.  Marks,  I.  N. 
Marks,  M.  Abrams,  J.  P.  Abrams,  J.  F.  Gambe,  all  well  known  gen- 
tlemen in  this  city,  inviting  their  fellow-citizens  of  South  Carolina  to 
attend  a  preliminary  meeting  to  be  held  ot  the  office  of  the  Crescent 
Mutual  Insurance  Company,  corner  of  Camp  street  and  Commercial 
Place,  First  District,  on  Monday  evening,  the  29th,  "  to  take  into  con- 
sideration the  propriety  of  uniting  with  their  fellow-citizens  in  doing 
honor  to  the  memory  of  their  countryman,  JOHN  C.  CALHOUN,  and  to 
HENRY  CLAY,  and  DANIEL  WEBSTER." 

The  meeting  took  place  and  was  numerously  attended.  W.  E. 
Elmore,  ex-Attorney  General  of  the  State,  was  called  on  to  preside, 


FUNERAL     CEREMONIES.  19 

and  I.  N.  Marks  was  appointed  Secretary.  The  chair  briefly  stated  the 
objects  of  the  meeting. 

Mr.  Cohen,  as  one  of  the  Committee  of  Arrangements  on  the 
part  of  the  city,  gave  information  in  relation  to  the  general  arrange- 
ments for  the  9th  December. 

On  motion  of  J.  A.  Barelli,  a  committee  of  five  was  appointed  to 
make  all  necessary  arrangements  for  the  South  Carolinians  to  join  in 
the  ceremonies. 

The  Committee  was  composed  of  M.  M.  Cohen,  I.  N.  Marks,  J. 
D,  B.  DeBow,  A.  C.  Labatt,  and  Dr.  Axson. 

The  meeting  then  adjourned  to  assemble  again  on  the  call  of  the 
Committee  of  Arrangements. 

On  the  2d  December,  the  Committee  published  a  call  for  another 
meeting  to  take  place  on  the  7th,  and  also  inviting  all  Carolinians  to 
unite  on  the  morning  of  the  9th,  at  the  City  Hall,  opposite  Lafayette 
Square,  to  arrange  for  taking  their  place  in  the  Procession. 

On  the  23d  November,  the  Foremen  of  that  very  large,  influen- 
tial and  respectable  body,  the  Fire  Department  of  this  city,  held  a 
meeting  and  adopted  the  following  Preamble  and  Resolutions : 

Whereas,  The  citizens  of  New  Orleans  in  common  with  the  people  of  this  great  nation, 
have  deemed  it  but  proper  to  set  apart  a  day  to  do  honor  to  the  memories  of  the  three  great  Ame- 
rican statesmen.  JOHN  C.  CALHOUN,  HENRY  CLAY  and  DANIEL  WEBSTEK,  the  exalted  spirits  of  the 
age,  and  the  very  pillars  of  this  happy  confederacy ;  who  have  lately  passed  from  our  midst,  and 
thus  deprived  this  country  of  its  wisest  guides  and  counsellors.  And 

Whereas,  we,  members  of  the  Fire  Department  of  this  city,  fully  sensible  of  the  greatness  of 
the  departed,  and  the  services  they  have  rendered  to  their  country,  do  most  cordially  approve  of 
the  matter  proposed. 

Resolved,  That  we,  members  of  the  Fire  Department  of  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  do  most 
cordially  approve  and  sanction  the  course  of  our  citizens  in  setting  apart  a  day  for  celebrating  the 
funeral  solemnities  of  these  great  and  good  men,  and  pledge  our  aid  and  influence  in  endeavoring 
to  procure  the  general  participation  of  the  Department. 

(Signed)  J.  C.  McLELLAN,  Chairman. 

RICH'D.  L.  ROBERTSON,  Jr.,  Sec'y. 

From  this  time  up  to  within  a  day  or  two  of  the  funeral  cere- 
monials, all  the  various  Societies  of  the  city,  Military,  Benevolent, 
Firemen,  Masonic,  Odd  Fellows,  Temperance,  Screwmen,  Printers, 
Grocers,  were  actively  engaged  in  preparing  for  the  occasion,  not 
only  to  make  a  striking  display  of  their  own  numbers,  but  to  give  a 
more  imposing  effect  to  the  entire  ceremony.  The  Board  of  Directors 


20  HISTORYOFTHE 

of  the  First  District  Public  Schools  ordered  that  the  boys  and  male 
teachers  of  the  schools  should  join  in  the  Procession,  with  the  Directors 
themselves  at  their  head. 

The  New  England  Society,  one  of  the  first  associations  in  the 
South,  from  the  influential  positions  of  its  members  in  our  city  society 
and  business,  of  course  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  projected  cere- 
monies. They  felt  the  loss  of  DANIEL  WEBSTER,  not  alone  as 
Massachusetts  men,  but  as  natives  of  all  of  those  States  which  form 
New  England,  and  to  which  the  departed  orator  was  more  especially 
endeared.  The  large  number  of  New  Englanders  resident  in  the  city 
and  visiting  it,  answered  the  first  call  of  the  Society  with  alacrity — 
and  at  a  meeting  held  on  the  2d  December,  a  Committee  of  Arrange- 
ments was  appointed  to  prepare  for  a  general  turn  out  of  the  New 
Englanders  in  a  style  befitting  their  numbers  and  the  interest  they 
more  peculiarly  felt  on  this  occasion  of  mourning.  The  Committee 
consisted  of  Messrs.  J.  W.  Stanton,  Zachary  Taylor,  Geo.  W.  Lamb, 
J.  H.  Felt,  L.  Spring,  W.  H.  Carter,  and  W.  H.  Bartlett.  On  the  7th 
December,  they  published  the  following  notice : 

The  Committee  of  Arrangements  appointed  at  a  meeting  of  the  natives  of  New  England,  held 
at  the  office  of  the  Crescent  Insurance  Company,  on  the  2d  inst,  respectfully  invite  all  natives  of 
New  England  that  may  be  in  the  city  on  the  9th  inst,  whether  citizens  or  strangers,  to  join  with 
them  in  observing  the  ceremonies  of  the  day. 

The  Committee  are  induced  to  extend  the  invitation  in  this  special  manner,  inasmuch  as  very 
many  of  their  fellow-citizens  (New  Englanders)  are  members  of  various  city  societies  and  bodies, 
viz  :  the  Military,  Odd  Fellows,  Firemen,  &c.,  and  as  such  intend  to  join  in  the  Procession  and 
other  observances  of  the  day. 

While  we  cheerfully  recognize  the  duty  of  members  of  the  societies  referred  to  to  join  with 
their  respective  societies  in  the  observance  of  the  ceremonies,  yet  the  Committee  venture  to  hope 
and  believe  that  on  an  occasion  like  this,  which  is  to  do  honor  to  the  memory  of  our  illustrious 
statesman,  the  pride  and  glory  of  every  native  of  New  England,  I  UMKI,  WEBSTER,  together  with 
his  eminent  fellow-statesmen  CALHOUN  and  CtAT,  that  all  sons  of  the  Pilgrims,  without  exception, 
will  specially  unite  for  that  purpose. 

The  Committee,  therefore,  earnestly  invite  all  natives  of  the  New  England  States,  that  may  be 
in  the  city,  to  meet  on  the  morning  of  the  9th  inst.,  at  the  office  of  the  Crescent  Insurance  Com- 
pany, corner  of  Camp  street  and  Commercial  Alley,  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  and  joining  in 
the  Procession. 

The  Shipmasters  in  port  were  called  on  to  meet  on  the  evening 
of  the  7th  December,  at  the  office  of  J.  P.  Whitney  &  Co.,  91  Camp 
street.  The  meeting  was  fully  attended,  and  suitable  measures  were 
taken  for  this  influential  body  to  participate  in  the  ceremonies. 


FUNERAL     CEREMONIES.  21 

The  numerous  Societies  composed  of  natives  of  foreign  countries, 
were  by  no  means  backward  in  the  display  of  a  spirit  similar  to  that 
which  animated  our  native  and  naturalized  citizens.  The  mass  of  the 
population  of  the  city  exhibited  a  deep  interest  in  the  matter,  and  on 
all  sides — in  hotels,  boarding  houses,  private  residences,  from  those  of 
the  richest  to  those  of  the  poorest,  stores,  shops,  warehouses — busy 
hands  were  at  work  obeying  the  dictates  of  warm  hearts  and  active 
fancies,  in  preparing  mourning  drapery  and  devices,  whereby  to 
express  the  sorrow  the  people  felt  for  the  loss  of  the  men  they  delighted 
to  honor  and  admire.  It  was  no  mere  official  ceremony  that  was  to 
be  performed;  it  was  a  ceremony  which  took  its  shape  from  the 
heartfelt,  impulses  of  the  thousands  who  dwell  in  the  Crescent  City. 

Several  Societies  sent  in  communications  to  the  Committee, 
giving  their  reasons  why  they  should  not  be  able  to  attend  on  the 
9th — the  Order  of  the  Lone  Star,  the  Howard  Association,  and  others. 
Their  peculiar  objects,  either  political  or  charitable,  prevented  their 
appearance  in  public.  Most  of  their  members,  however,  joined  the 
procession  under  the  banners  of  other  Associations  and  Societies,  civil 
and  military. 

The  numerous  Foreign  Consuls  in  the  city  notified  the  Com- 
mittee by  letter  of  their  intention  to  be  present  at  the  ceremonies. 
The  Governor  of  the  State,  Joseph  Walker,  sent  word  that  illness 
would  prevent  his  attendance.  It  was  understood  that  the  Mayor  of 
Charleston  would  be  present,  as  the  Common  Council  of  that  city 
granted  him  leave  of  absence  for  the  purpose.  His  Honor  did  not 
make  his  appearance,  in  consequence  of  indisposition.  The  Committee 
sent  invitations  to  all  the  officers  of  the  Army  stationed  here,  com- 
mencing with  Gen.  Twiggs,  Commander  of  the  Division,  through  all 
branches  of  the  service  ;  also  to  the  officers  of  the  Revenue  Service 
then  in  port.  A  special  invitation  was  sent  to  Lieut.  Col.  Nauman,  in 
command  at  the  U.  S.  Barracks  below  the  city,  to  join  the  procession, 
at  the  head  of  the  battalion  of  the  Fourth  Artillery. 

A  committee  was  appointed  for  the  reception  of  ladies  at  the 
delivery  of  the  orations  at  the  Odd  Fellows'  Hall,  Lyceum  Hall,  and 
Presbyterian  Church,  situated  around  Lafayette  Square.  This  com- 


22  HISTOHY     OP     THE 

mittee  met,  and   the   following    sub-divisions  of  its   members   took 
place : 

FOR  THE  LYCEUM  HALL — Aaron  Harris,  V.  Heermann,  T.  L. 
Bayne,  M.  Blasco,  Wm.  Vincent,  Jr.,  Armand  Coycault,  Edward  C. 
Wharton,  Germain  Vincent,  George  Rareshide,  T.  S.  Clark. 

FOR  THE  ODD  FELLOWS'  HALL — J.  D.  Dameron,  Octave  Voorhees, 
P.  E.  Mortimer,  Fred.  Stringer,  A.  Layet,  Henry  Hall,  G.  Bouligny, 
E.  Giquel,  Thomas  A.  James,  R.  W.  Dean. 

FOE  THE  CHURCH — F.  Camerden,  A.  Flash,G.  B.  Duncan,  W.  C. 
Raymond,  C.  Elder,  R.  B.  Sumner,  Thomas  J.  Dix,  W.  J.  Dewey, 
Benj.  Bloomfield,  P.  H.  Goodwin. 

The  following  gentlemen  were  appointed  committees  for  the 
reception  of  distinguished  visitors :  Dr.  J.  Labatut,  J.  B.  Dolhonde, 
W.  C.  C.  Claiborne,  T.  A.  Adams,  W.  C.  Nicou,  H.  W.  Palfrey,  T. 
A.  Clarke,  and  John  Claiborne. 

The  owners  of  private  and  public  carriages  and  vehicles  were 
directed  to  withdraw  them  from  the  streets  through  which  the  proces- 
sion was  to  pass,  after  the  hour  of  11  A.  M.,  and  it  was  stated  that  no 
obstruction  of  any  kind  would  be  permitted  in  those  thoroughfares. 
The  Chief  of  Police,  Capt.  Nouenes,  was  charged  with  the  enforce- 
ment of  these  orders. 

Major  General  Lewis,  commanding  the  First  Division  of  Louisiana 
Militia,  having  accepted  the  invitation  of  the  Committee  of  Arrange- 
ments, issued  orders  on  the  2d  December,  for  the  volunteer  companies 
under  his  command  to  join  in  the  ceremonies,  fully  equipped  for 
funeral  service — Brigadier  Gen.  Augustin,  commanding  the  Louisiana 
Legion,  Brig.  Gen.  Tracy,  commanding  the  First  Brigade,  and  Brig. 
Gen.  Cronan,  commanding  the  Ninth  Brigade,  being  charged  with  the 
execution  of  the  order. 

The  Banks  issued  notices  that  the  day  of  the  funeral  ceremonies 
would  be  observed  by  them  by  closing  their  doors,  and  attending  to 
no  business. 

On  the  3d  inst.  the  General  Committee  of  Arrangements  published 
their  programme  for  the  ceremonies  of  the  9th.  We  give  merely  the 
order  of  Procession,  without  details  of  special  directions. 


FUNERAL     CEREMONIE'S.  23 


The  Joint  Committee  appointed  by  the  Mayor,  Members  of  the  Bar,  and  the  Common  Council 
of  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  to  make  the  necessary  arrangements  for  solemnizing  the  obsequies  of 
the  lamented  CALHOUN,  CLAY,  and  WEBSTEB,  have  adopted  the  following  Programme  of  Arrange- 
ments for  the  occasion: 

COL.    CHARLES    A.    LABUZAN 

has  been  unanimously  selected  as  the  Grand  Marshal  of  the  Day;  and 

GEN.   E.    L.    TRACY 

First  Assistant  Marshal. 

The  following  gentlemen  have  been  selected  and  will  act  as  District  Marshals  and  Aids : 

MARSHALS. 

First  District CoL  J.  B.  WALTON. 

Second  District... .OVIDE  DE  BUYS,  Esq. 

Third  District JAMES  PHILLIPS,  Esq. 

Fourth  District... A.  W.  JOURDAN,  Esq. 

AIDS. 

CoL  C.  R,  Wheat,  CoL  Henry  Forno,  CoL  C.  M.  Emerson 

CoL  A.  W.  Bosworth,  Robt.  A.  Grinnan,  Esq.,  Richard  Richardson,  Esq 

V.  H.  Ivy,  Esq.,  Samuel  G.  Risk,  Esq.,  John  Adams,  Esq., 

Wm.  Sutton,  Esq.,  Joseph  Bruneau,  Esq.,  A.  Sckreiber,  Esq., 

Edward  Flash,  Esq.,  Joseph  Etter,  Esq.,  James  Beggs,  Esq., 

Thomas  Hunton,  Esq.,  John  Claiborne,  Esq.,  Edward  Thompson,  Esq., 

Chas.  W.  Canfield,  Esq.,  N.  Trepagnier,  Esq.,  J.  K.  Rayburn,  Esq., 

Charles  Leeds,  Esq.,  Joseph  Hufty,  Esq.,  H.  J.  Ranney,  Esq. 

The  Procession  will  move  from  the  City  Hall,  opposite  Lafayette  Square,  at  11  o'clock,  A.  M., 
precisely,  and  will  pass  down  St.  Charles  street  to  Poydras  street,  up  Poydras  street  to  Camp  street 
down  Camp  and  Chartres  streets  to  Conti  street,  up  Conti  street  to  Levee  street,  down  Levee 
street  to  Toulouse  street,  down  Toulouse  street  to  Chartres  street,  down  Chartres  street  to  St 
Ann  street,  down  St.  Ann  street  to  Royal  street,  up  Royal  street  to  St.  Louis  street,  down  St.  Louis 
street  to  Bourbon  street,  up  Bourbon  and  Carondelet  streets  to  St.  Joseph  street,  up  St.  Joseph 
street  to  Camp  street,  down  Camp  street  to  Julia  street,  down  Julia  street  to  St.  Charles  street, 
down  St.  Charles  street  to  Lafayette  Square. 

And  in  order  that  all  those  who  participate  in  the  Funeral  Obsequies  may  have  an  opportunity 
of  witnessing  it,  the  ceremony  of  depositing  the  Urns  in  the  Cenotaph  on  Lafayette  Square  will  take 
place  as  soon  as  the  Grand  Marshal  shall  have  formed  the  entire  procession  in  column  en  masse 
on  Lafayette  Square,  when  the  Rev.  Mr.  Walker  will  pronounce  the  Benediction  hi  depositing  the 
Urns  in  the  Cenotaph ;  at  the  closing  of  which  ceremony  the  procession  will  be  dismissed  by  the 
Grand  Marshal. 

Immediately  after  which,  the  following  ceremonies  at  the  places  designated  will  take  place : 
AT  LYCEUM  HALL,  First  District— Prayer,  by  Rev.  Mr.  Walker— Funeral  Dirge,  by  Band- 
Eulogy  on  JOHN  C.  CALHOUN,  by  Hon.  Geo.  Eustis — Benediction,  by  Rev.  Mr.  Dobbs. 

AT  ODD  FELLOWS'  HALL,  First  District— Prayer,  by  Rev.  Mr.  Cleghorn— Funeral  Dirge,  by 
Band— Eulogy  on  HKNBY  CLAY,  by  Hon.  Theo.  H  McCaleb — Benediction,  by  Rev.  Mr.  Cleghorn. 

AT  DB.  SCOTT'S  CHUBCH,  Lafayette  Square — Prayer,  by  Rev.  Dr.  Scott— Funeral  Dirge,  by  the 
Choir— Eulogy  on  DANIEL  WEBSTEB,  by  Hon.  Christian  Roselius— Benediction,  by  Rev.  Mr.  J. 
TwitchelL 

The  Arrangements  of  the  Day  will  be  under  the  command  of  the  Grand  Marshal 
Minute  guns  will  be  fired  during  the  day  from  the  head  of  Canal  street. 


24 


H  1ST  O  RY     OF     THE 


It  is  respectfully  requested  that  all  places  of  public  and  prirate  business  be  closed,  and  that  the 
same,  together  with  the  dwellings  of  citizens,  be  dressed  in  mourning. 

It  is  also  respectfully  requested,  that  our  fellow-citizens  wear  the  usual  badge  of  mourning  on 
the  left  arm  during  the  moving  of  the  Procession. 

Persons  having  charge  of  the  church  and  fire-alarm  bells  in  this  city,  are  requested  to  cause 
the  same  to  be  tolled  during  the  day. 

Masters  of  vessels  and  steamboats  in  port,  and  the  proprietors  of  the  various  public  buildings 
in  the  city,  are  respectfully  requested  to  display  their  colors  at  half-mast  from  sunrise  to  sunset. 

The  Military,  the  several  Orders,  Societies,  Associations,  and  other  bodies  that  desire  to  partici- 
pate in  the  ceremonies  of  the  day,  are  requested  to  assemble  at  such  places  as  they  may  respectively 
select,  and  repair  to  the  places  of  rendezvous  by  10  o'clock,  A.  M. 


ORDER  OF  PROCESSION 


FIRST   GRAND    DIVISION. 

CoL  CHARLES  A.  LABUZAN,  Grand  Marshal.    Gen.  E.  L.  TRACY,  First  Assistant  Marshal. 

Special  Aids  to  Grand  Marshal : 

Col.  C.  R.  Wheat,  CoL  C.  M.  Emerson,  Col.  Henry  Fomo, 

Col.  A.  W.  Bosworth,  Robt.  A.  Grinnan,  Esq.,  Richard  Richardson,  Esq., 

Thos.  Hunton,  Esq ,  John  Claiborne,  Esq.,  H.  J.  Ranney,  Esq. 

Volunteers  of  the  First  Division  Louisiana  Militia,  under  the  command  of  Major  General  John  L. 

Lewis,  as  a  Military  Escort,  as  follows : 

Washington  Regiment. 
Volunteer  First  Brigade  Louisiana  Militia,  commanded  by  Col.  W.  W.  W.  Wood. 

Louisiana  Legion,  commanded  by  Gen.  D.  Augustin. 
Battalion  of  U.  S.  Artillery,  under  the  command  of  Lt.  Col.  George  Nauman,  U.  S.  Army. 


SECOND   GRAND    DIVISION. 

Colonel  J.  B.  WALTON,  First  District  Marshal. 
Aids :  J.  K.  Rayburn,  Esq.,  N.  Trepagnier,  Esq^  Joseph  Etter,  Esq,,  C.  W.  Canfield,  Esq. 

Music. 
Officiating  Clergymen  and  Orators  of  the  Day,  in  carriages. 

MILITARY 


MILITARY 
DETACHMENT 

AS 

GUARD   OF   HONOR. 


O) 


DETACHMENT 


GUARD    OF    HONOR. 


Under  the  command  of  Major  Soira. 


FUNERAL     CEREMONIES.  25 

PALL    BEARERS: 

Representing  the  Thirty  One  States  of  the  Union,  on  both  sides  the  Car. 

PALL  BEAKEHS.  PALL  BEARERS. 

Geo.  Foster,  Massachusetts.  H.  L.  Peire,  Louisiana. 

B.  F.  Flanders,  New  Hampshire.  Thomas  K.  Price,  Tennessee. 
W.  G.  Gale,  Rhode  Island.  Julian  Neville,  Ohio. 
Oliver  Palmes,  Connecticut.  John  R.  Shaw,  Missouri. 

S.  F.  Wilson,  New  York.  S.  O.  Nelson,  Alabama. 

J.  O.  Pierson,  New  Jersey.  Col.  S.  H.  Mudge,  Illinois. 

G.  Doane,  Pennsylvania.  \Vm  G.  Mullen,  Indiana. 

Dr.  J  S.  Copes,  Delaware.  B.  P.  Voorhies,  Mississippi. 

Capt.  James  Stockton,  Maryland.  Col.  Josiah  Cole,  Michigan. 

James  R.  Jennings,  Virginia.  Moses  Greenwood,  Arkansas. 

F.  A.  Lumsden,  North  Carolina.  Gerard  Stith,  Wisconsin. 

Chas.  S.  Reese,  South  Carolina.  T.  C.  Twichell,  Iowa. 

Dr.  Geo.  E.  Harral,  Georgia.  J.  T.  Doswell,  Texas. 

C.  C.  Lathrop,  Vermont.  Chas.  G.  Barclay,  Florida. 
M.  O.  H.  Norton,  Kentucky.  T  B.  Winston,  California. 
Capt  S.  S.  Green,  Maine.  J.  W.  Mader,  Oregon. 

Delegates  of  Four  each,   from  the  States  of  South  Carolina,  Kentucky  and  Massachusetts,  as 

Chief  Mourners. 

MASSACHUSETTS.  KENTUCKY.  SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

Joseph  Harrod,  Esq ,  Cuthbert  Bullitt,  T.  N.  Waul, 

S  H.  Kennedy,  John  H.  Owen,  W.  A.  Elmore, 

R.  J.  Palfrey,  A.  S.  Trotter,  J.  D.  B  DeBow. 

Jacob  H  Felt.  W.  G.  KendalL  Geo   C.  McWherter. 

Joint  Committee  of  Arrangements  In  Carriages. 

Citizens  of  Massachusetts,  Kentucky,  South  Carolina. 

The   Mayor,    accompanied  by   Distinguished    Strangers. 

Recorders  of  the  First,  Second,  Third  and  Fourth  Districts,  hi  carriages. 

The  Board  of  Aldermen,  with  their  Clerk,  preceded  by  their  Sergeant-at-Arms,  and  headed  by  their 

President,  in  carriages. 

City  Attorney,  City  Treasurer,  Comptroller,  Surveyor,  and  their  Deputies. 
Veterans  of  "14  and  '15,  in  carriages. 

The  Clergy. 
His  Excellency  Governor  Joseph  Walker  and  Suite. 

Lieutenant  Governor. 

Secretary  of  State,  State  Treasurer,  Attorney  General. 
Auditor  of  Public  Accounts,  Civil  Engineer. 

Surveyor  General. 

State  Superintendent  of  Public  Education. 

Members  of  the  U.  S.  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives. 

Members  of  the  State  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives. 

Major  General  D.  L.  Twiggs  and  Suite,  commanding  Western  Division  United  States  Army. 

Officers  of  the  United  States  Army. 

Officers  of  the  Navy  and  Revenue  Service. 

Foreign  Consuls,  in  carriages. 

Officers  of  Louisiana  Militia. 
Regents  of  the  University  of  Louisiana. 

D 

* 


26  HI8TORYOFTHE 


Law  Faculty  of  the  University  of  Louisiana— Medical  Faculty  of  the  University  of  Louisiana. 

Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court. 

Judges  of  the  United  States  Circuit  and  District  Courts. 
Judges  of  the  District  Courts  of  the  State. 

United  States  District  Attorney. 

United  States  Marshal  and  Deputies. 

Collector  of  the  Port. 

Naval  Officer. 

Surveyor  of  the  Customs  and  Deputies. 
Appraisers  and  Assistant  Appraisers. 

Postmasters  and  Deputies. 

United  States  Receiver  and  Register  of  the  Land  Office. 
Superintendent,  Treasurer,  and  Officers  of  the  Mint 

District  Attorney. 
Sheriff  of  the  Parish  of  Orleans  and  adjoining  Parishes. 

Members  of  the  Bar — Justices  of  the  Peace. 
Deputy  Sheriffs  of  Parish  of  Orleans  and  adjoining  Parishes. 

Clerks  and  Deputy  Clerks  of  the  U.  8.  Courts. 
Clerks  and  Deputy  Clerks  of  Supreme,  State  and  City  Courts. 

Recorders  of  Mortgages  and  Deputies. 
Register  of  Conveyances  and  Deputies. 

Notaries  Public. 

The  Members  of  the  Press. 

Whig  and  Democratic  State  Central  Committees. 


THIRD  GRAND  DIVISION. 

OVIDE  DE  BUYS,  Esq.,  Second  District  Marshal. 
Aids :  Samuel  G.  Risk,  Esq.,  John  Adams,  Esq., 

Music. 
Fire  Department  of  New  Orleans,  Algiers,  Gretna,  Carroflton,  and  Milneburg,  with  their  banners. 

The  Masonic  Order  under  the  Grand  Lodge  of  the  State. 

Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows— Grand  Lodge  and  its  Subordinate  Lodges. 
Grand  Encampment  and  its  Subordinates. 


FOURTH   QRAND   DIVISION. 

JAMES  PHILLIPS,   Esq,  Third  District  Marshal 

Aids:  A.  Schriber,  Esq ,  Joseph  Bruneau,  Esq  ,  James  Beggs,  Esq. 

Music. 
New  Orleans  Mechanics'  Society. 

New  England  Society. 
Typographical  Union  of  New  Orleans. 

St.  Andrews'  Society. 

Hibernian,  Shamrock  and  St.  Patrick  Benevolent  Societies. 
St  Michael  Benevolent  Burial  Society. 


FUNERAL     CERE  MONIES.  27 

French,  Italian,  Portuguese  and  Spanish  Benevolent  Societies. 

Delegation  of  the  Sons  of  Temperance. 

Father  Mathew  Temperance  Societies — Temple  of  Honor — Sons  of  Temperance. 

German  Benevolent  Society — German  Emigrant  Society. 

St.  Joseph  Society. 


FIFTH  GRAND  DIVISION. 

A.  W.  JOURDAN,  Esq.,  Fourth  District  Marshal 

Aids :  V.  H.  Ivy,  Esq ,  Win.  Sutton,  Esq.,  Edw.  Thompson,  Esq ,  Joseph  Hufty. 

Music. 

Screwmens'  Benevolent  Association  of  New  Orleans. 

Mutual,  Turners'  and  Grocers'  Associations  of  New  Orleans. 

Harbor  Master  and  Port  Wardens. 

Ship  Masters. 
Steamboat  Captains. 

Board  of  Directors,  Teachers  and  Boys  of  the  1st,  3d,  3d  and  4th  District  Public  Schools. 

Orphan  Boys  from  the  3d  and  4th  District  Asylums. 

Citizens  and  Strangers  generally. 


All  day  Wednesday  the  preparations  for  the  next  day's  solemn 
ceremonies  occupied  thousands  of  rough  and  fair  hands.  Towards 
evening  the  great  city  hushed  to  stillness,  as  if  pausing  before  the 
vast  page  of  glorious,  national  reminiscences  and  deeds,  and  words 
that  History  had  inscribed  under  the  revered  names  of  CALHOUN, 
CLAY  and  WEBSTER,  and  over  which  she  was  now  about  to  throw  a 
veil  of  mourning.  Every  man  and  woman  felt  a  something  stirring 
within  them  befitting  the  solemnity  of  the  occasion, — a  deep  seated 
regret  as  for  the  loss  of  those  who  were  dear,  and  would  never  again 
be  seen  or  heard ;  an  awing  sensation  as  if  the  shades  of  the  mighty 
dead  had  come  on  the  black  pall  of  the  storm  that  swept*  over  the  city 
that  night,  and  bent  motionless  in  the  sombre  canopy  of  heaven  over 
the  great  mass  of  humanity  that  was  on  the  morrow  to  put  on  the 
garments  of  woe  for  their  departure  hence  into  the  spirit  world. 


m 

28  HISTORTOPTHE 

Thursday,  the  9th  December,  opened  with  a  cloud  dispelling 
breeze  from  the  north  that  cleared  up  the  skies,  brightened  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  city,  gave  a  bracing  tinge  to  the  air,  and  materially 
assisted  in  drying  the  streets  which  had  been  deluged  by  rain  during 
the  night.  At  an  early  hour,  on  all  sides,  the  evidences  were  plentiful 
of  the  general  determination  to  solemnize  the  day  in  the  most  appro- 
priate manner.  Row  after  row  of  windows  and  balconies,  and  house 
and  store  fronts,  for  miles  in  extent — from  north  to  south,  and  east  to 
west — speedily  displayed  the  sable  and  white  insignia  of  mourning, 
arranged  according  to  the  dictates  of  thousands  of  fancies  and  tastes, 
some  in  the  simplest  folds,  some  on  a  small  plan,  some  on  grand 
dimensions,  some  with  an  elaborateness  of  design  in  which  velvet,  silk, 
crape,  linen,  drawn  in  arches,  columns,  broad  bands,  rosettes,  mingled 
harmoniously  with  wreaths,  banners,  altars,  urns,  and  statuary, 
formed  tableaux  most  striking  and  beautiful.  The  inscriptions  of  the 
names  of  the  dead  Statesmen  were  by  scores.  These,  and  their 
veiled  busts  and  portraits,  exhibited  in  windows  and  doors,  or  on 
balconies,  spoke  eloquently  and  impressively  of  the  great  deeds  and 
words  of  the  departed,  recalling  continually  to  the  passing  multitudes 
sayings  or  services  which  had  become  household  words  with  the 
American  people — which  the  school-boy  declaimed,  the  youth  thrilled 
to  hear,  the  man  burned  to  equal,  the  woman  delighted  to  admire, 
and  the  whole  United  States  treasured  up  as  precious  examples  of 
unsurpassed  wisdom,  courage,  eloquence  and  patriotism, 

These  many  present  memorials  of  the  great  dead,  meeting  the 
eye  in  every  direction,  though  at  first  attracting  the  gaze  of  curiosity, 
immediately  afterwards  presented  the  sad,  the  solemn  thought  that  it 
was  not  to  celebrate  another  triumph  of  the  burning  genius,  lofty 
devotion,  or  far  stretching  wisdom  of  these  three  men,  that  the  city 
had  put  on  her  flaunting  robes ;  no — a  mightier  than  they — whose 
voice  though  unheard,  and  form  though  unseen,  thrilled  the  hearts  and 
awed  the  minds  of  men  with  a  power  more  terrible  and  irresistible 
than  any  human  voice  or  form  could  do,  had  conquered  the  uncon- 
querable, and  it  was  Death's  gloomy,  chilling  triumph  the  mighty  city 
was  now  to  celebrate,  despite  itself,  with  frowning  reluctance  and 
heavy  heart. 


FUNERAI*    CERE  MONIES.  29 

The  flags  of  the  large  number  of  ships,  steamboats  and  steamers 
in  port  were  displayed  at  half-mast ;  the  bells  of  the  numerous  churches 
answered  each  other  at  measured  intervals  in  deep,  sullen  tones ;  the 
flags  of  the  foreign  consuls  were  appropriately  suspended  at  half-mast 
and  draped  in  mourning ;  the  public  buildings,  hotels,  newspaper 
offices,  arsenals,  clubs,  had  the  national  banner  floating  to  the  breeze, 
with  streamers  and  rosettes,  and  bands  of  crape,  significantly  expressing 
the  interest  of  their  display. 

The  streets  presented,  besides  this  strange  appearance  of  gloomy 
devices  and  drapery  stretching  far  in  the  distance  in  any  direction  the 
eye  selected,  the  impressive  and  never  tiring  one  of  thousands  on 
thousands  of  men,  women  and  children,  most  of  them  dressed  as  if 
for  a  holiday,  moving  in  closely-pressed  throngs,  pouring  along 
unceasingly  and  slowly  and  steadily,  meeting  in  masses  at  the  corners, 
but  crossing  or  mingling  with  each  other  without  confusion  or  noise. 
Indeed,  the  order  and  decorum  displayed  throughout  the  entire  day 
by  this  immense  multitude  of  human  beings,  without  the  necessity  of 
a  police  corps  to  control  or  dirict  their  movements,  formed  a  subject 
of  general  and  admiring  comment,  and  one  for  much  reflection. 

Business  was  everywhere  suspended,  of  course,  from  the  Courts 
and  Municipal  offices,  the  Post  Office  and  U.  S.  Customhouse,  to  stores, 
shops,  counting-houses,  and  even  the  humblest  establishment  of  the 
humblest  individual.  The  vast  Levee  was  silent  and  almost  deserted ; 
the  apparently  never  ending  crescent-formed  row  of  triply  moored 
shipping,  and  stately  steamers  and  steamboats,  was  deserted  by  the 
swarm  of  human  beings  that  usually  cluster  around  its  track. 

Lafayette  Square  was  from  an  early  hour  the  central  point  of 
attraction.  A  dense  mass  of  gazers  swarmed  around  it,  continually 
on  the  more,  long  ere  the  moment  arrived  for  the  assembling  of  the 
corps  that  were  to  form  the  procession.  The  wide  and  lofty  flight  of 
steps  and  the  portico  of  the  marble  walled  and  pillared  City  Hall,  and 
the  balconies,  windows,  doors,  and  even  the  roofs  of  the  fine  private 
residences  surrounding  the  Square,  were  packed  with  spectators,  most 
of  whom  were  ladies,  while  every  foot  of  space  in  the  four  streets 
enclosing  it  was  occupied.  The  large  and  beautiful  Square  itself  was 

fa 


30  HISTORY    OF    THE 


kept  clear  of  all  intruders  by  the  Police  and  by  the  Volunteer  Military 
Company  of  Crescent  Rifles,  commanded  by  Capt.  J.  J.  Casey,  and 
attached  to  the  Washington  Regiment  under  Col.  Wood. 

All  night  long,  despite  the  drenching  rain,  the  workmen,  lighted 
by  the  glare  of  many  torches,  had  been  busy  in  erecting  the  grand 
Cenotaph,  designed  by  Mr.  A.  Mondelli,  long  known  in  this  city  as  a 
scenic  artist  of  distinguished  ability.  Daylight  found  the  wearied 
laborers  still  at  their  task,  but  they  relaxed  no  work  for  all  that,  and 
the  tall  and  imposing  monument  was  completed  in  time.  It  held  the 
centre  of  the  Square,  and  towered  to  a  height  that  attracted  the  eye 
at  a  considerable  distance.  Though  the  materials  of  which  it  was 
composed  were  simply  painted  wood  and  canvass,  it  bore  an  admirable 
resemblance  to  marble.  The  design  was  a  classic  structure  of  the 
Composite  order,  being,  in  outline,  a  broad  pedestal  or  base,  with  wide 
and  deep  buttresses  projecting  on  the  same  level,  one  from  each  side, 
and  ornamented  at  the  corners  by  tall  bronzed  tripods.  Two  flights 
of  steps,  one  fronting  on  St.  Charles,  the  other  on  Camp  street,  led  to 
the  central  platform,  which  was  surmounted  by  an  elegant  dome 
upreared  on  four  tall,  slender  columns,  the  dome  being  crowned  by  a 
large  gilt  eagle,  and  the  whole  structure  adorned  with  flowing  and 
tastefully  arranged  mourning  drapery,  with  emblems  and  inscriptions 
appropriate  to  the  occasion.  The  large  space  under  the  dome,  on  the 
platform,  was  open  on  the  four  sides,  and  was  sufficiently  elevated  to 
enable  any  one  in  the  street,  a  good  distance  off,  to  see  what  would 
take  place  there.  Its  centre  was  occupied  by  a  high  altar  covered 
with  black  velvet,  and  intended  to  receive  the  urns.  The  Cenotaph 
measured  at  the  base,  including  the  buttresses,  eighty-four  by  sixty 
feet,  and  was  sixty  feet  in  height.  It  presented  a  very  chaste  and 
elegant  appearance,  and  was  the  object  of  general  admiration. 

At  an  early  hour,  the  United  States  troops  from  the  Barracks 
below  the  city,  marched  throgh  the  streets  and  took  up  the  position 
assigned  them  in  the  Square.  They  numbered  two  companies,  under 
the  command  of  Lieut.  Col.  Nauman,  of  the  U.  S.  Fourth  Artillery. 
Their  neat,  soldiery  appearance  made  them  a  conspicuous  feature 
in  the  Procession. 


•"I 

FUNERAL     CEREMONIES.  31 

At  ten  o'clock,  the  different  bodies  of  citizens  and  military  began 
to  assemble  in  and  around  the  Square.  The  Clergymen,  Orators  of 
the  Day,  Pall  Bearers  and  Chief  Mourners  met  in  the  Governor's 
Room  of  the  City  Hall ;  the  Foreign  Consuls,  Officers  of  the  Revenue 
Service,  Veterans  of  1814-15,  the  Regents  of  the  University  of 
Louisiana  with  the  Officers  of  the  Law  and  Medical  Faculties  of  that 
Institution,  in  the  Recorder's  room ;  the  Judiciary,  Members  of  the 
Bar,  Officers  of  the  Customs,  Post  Office  and  Mint,  the  U.  S.  District 
Attorney  and  Marshals,  the  U.  S.  Receiver  and  Register  of  the  Land 
Office,  in  the  U.  S.  Court  Room ;  the  Mayor,  the  Right  Reverend 
Bishop  Polk,  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  (an  invited  guest,) 
the  Aldermen  and  Assistant  Aldermen,  the  four  Recorders,  and  the 
Joint  Committee  of  Arrangements,  in  the  Council  Chamber;  the 
Sheriff,  Deputy  Sheriffs,  Clerks  and  Deputy  Clerks  of  the  several 
Courts,  in  the  U.  S.  District  Clerk's  Office;  and  the  Notaries  Public 
and  some  Members  of  the  Press  in  the  Office  of  the  Clerk  of  the  U.  S. 
Circuit  Court. 

The  Grand  Marshal,  with  his  Aids  mounted  and  in  elegant 
costumes,  with  scarfs,  mourning  insignia,  etc.,  took  up  his  stand  punc- 
tually at  10  o'clock,  in  front  of  the  City  Hall,  where  the  different  corps 
and  societies  reported  to  him  their  arrival  as  they  appeared  from  all 
quarters,  and  marched  into  position. 

The  Volunteer  Military  Companies,  under  the  command  of  Major 
General  Lewis,  took  up  their  ground  in  Lafayette  Square,  the  left 
resting  on  St.  Charles  street ;  the  South  Carolinians  formed  on  the 
east  side  of  St.  Charles  street,  the  right  resting  on  South  street ;  the 
Kentuckians  occupied  the  centre  of  St.  Charles  street,  the  right  resting 
opposite  St.  Charles  street ;  the  Massachusetts  Delegation  the  west 
side  of  St.  Charles  street,  and  the  right  resting  opposite  South  street. 

The  Fire  Department  held  the  centre  of  Poydras  street,  west 
side  of  St.  Charles,  the  right  resting  on  St  Charles  street ;  the  Free 
Masons  and  Odd  Fellows  the  north  side  of  Poydras  street,  west  side 
of  St.  Charles,  the  right  resting  on  St.  Charles. 

The  Mechanics  and  New  England  Societies,  and  the  other 
Societies  named  in  the  Fourth  Grand  Division  of  the  Programme, 
formed  on  St.  Charles  street,  the  right  resting  on  Girod. 


32  HISTORY     OF     THE 

The  Screwmens'  Benevolent  Association  and  the  other  Mutual 
Associations  took  up  the  west  side  of  Camp  street,  the  right  resting 
on  South  ;  the  Turners'  and  Grocers'  Associations,  the  Harbor  Mas- 
ters, Port  Wardens,  Ship  Masters  and  Steamboat  Captains  formed  on 
Camp  street,  the  right  resting  on  South  street ;  and  the  Board  of 
Directors,  Teachers  and  Boys  of  the  Public  Schools,  and  the  Orphan 
Boys,  took  up  their  position  on  the  east  side  of  Camp  street,  the  right 
resting  on  South  street.  The  Carriages  intended  for  the  Procession, 
formed  in  Hevia  street,  the  leading  ones  resting  on  St.  Charles,  where 
near  the  corner,  stood  the  Funeral  Car. 

These  dispositions  were  made  promptly  and  with  order,  so  that 
when  the  Procession  began  to  move  at  1 1  o'clock,  the  various  bodies 
fell  into  their  places  in  the  column  without  stop  or  confusion. 

The  head  of  the  Procession,  led  by  Grand  Marshal  Labuzan  and 
a  brilliant  staff,  moved  into  Camp  street  and  turned  towards  Canal,  its 
approach  being  heralded  by  the  booming  of  cannon,  which  fired  at 
measured  intervals,  and  the  wailing,  funeral  notes  of  many  bands. 
To  describe  the  appearance  of  Camp  street  would  be  but  a  repetition 
of  what  has  been  said  before — such  an  immense  crowd  of  men,  women 
and  children  as  filled  the  doorways,  windows,  balconies — story  on 
story — and  occupied  every  foot  of  space  on  the  sidewalks,  wherever 
it  was  possible  for  a  person  to  stand,  has  never  before  been  gathered 
in  this  city,  large  and  populous  as  it  is. 

The  Grand  Marshal  was  followed  by  the  Washington  Regiment, 
Volunteer  First  Brigade,  Louisiana  Militia,  commanded  by  Col.  W. 
W.  W.  "Wood,  accompanied  by  his  staff,  Adjutant  Keating  and  Sur- 
geon Booth.  The  field  band  preceded  them,  the  drums  muffled  and 
beating  a  slow  funeral  march.  Marching  with  the  left  in  front,  came 
first,  the  Jackson  Rifles,  Lieut.  Forno  commanding;  the  Crescent 
Rifles,  Capt.  Casey ;  the  Regimental  Colors,  guarded  by  an  escort 
from  the  Emmett  Guards ;  then  these  Guards,  under  Lieut.  Nolan, 
and  the  Louisiana  Grays,  Capt.  Leach.  The  Regiment  numbered 
108  men.  Their  field  battery  composed  of  four  guns  and  caissons, 
drawn  by  two  horses  each,  with  twenty  mounted  artillerymen,  fol- 
lowed them. 


FUNERAL     CEREMONIES.  33 

Next  appeared  that  fine  old  corps,  the  Louisiana  Legion,  com- 
posed principally  of  citizens  of  foreign  birth,  or,  when  native  born, 
of  foreign  descent.  They  numbered  in  their  ranks  many  veterans  of 
well  fought  fields  in  both  continents,  and  therefore  are  regarded  by 
the  old  residents  of  New  Orleans  with  a  peculiar  interest. 

Gen.  Augustin,  commanding  the  Brigade,  aided  by  a  numerous 
staff,  headed  the  Legion,  the  march  of  which  was  opened  by  the 
Pioneers  in  huge  bearskin  shakos,  and  armed  with  formidable  axes. 
Two  large  and  excellent  field  bands  accompanied  the  Legion. 
Behind  the  Pioneers,  marched  that  corps  d'&lite,  the  Battalion  of 
Artillery,  which  numbered  over  100  men.  Behind  them  came  the 
time-worn  colors  of  the  Legion,  properly  escorted,  and  followed  by 
the  Spanish,  Swiss,  French  and  German  Companies,  under  the  com- 
mand of  Lieut.  Col.  Eichols.  The  Legion  numbered  in  all  232 
muskets,  and  was  followed  by  two  batteries  of  three  brass  guns  and 
caissons  each,  drawn  by  two  horses  each,  and  escorted  by  twelve 
mounted  artillerymen.  These  pieces  belonged  to  the  Battalion  of 
Artillery.  The  gallant  old  officer,  Major  Gaily,  who  had  so  long 
commanded  the  Battalion,  followed  the  guns  in  an  open  barouche, 
illness  preventing  him  from  attending  otherwise. 

Last  came  the  U.  S.  Troops,  under  Bvt.  Lieut.  Col.  Nauman. 
Their  trim  and  soldierly,  yet  modest  appearance,  were  the  objects 
of  continual  praise  and  notice.  Their  other  officers  were  Capt.  J.  B. 
Picketts,  First  Artillery,  commanding ;  First  Lieut.  J.  B.  Fry,  and 
Second  Lieut.  H.  E.  Maynadier. 

Major  General  Lewis,  with  a  numerous  and  brilliant  staff,  closed 
the  First  Division. 

The  Second  Grand  Division  was  opened  by  a  band  of  music, 
followed  by  two  carriages  in  which  rode  the  officiating  Clergymen 
and  Orators  of  the  Day. 

The  Funeral  Car  came  next.  It  was  the  principal  feature  of  the 
Procession,  and  an  examination  of  it  showed  that  it  had  been  prepared 
by  careful  and  tasteful  hands.  To  Mr.  Dubuque  is  due  the  credit 
of  its  design  and  execution.  It  measured  eleven  feet  in  length  by 
sixteen  in  height,  and  about  eight  in  breadth.  The  bed  or  platform 


34  HISTORYOPTHE 


was  a  large  shell  covered  with  black  velvet,  and  adorned  with  silver 
trimmings.  Three  bronzed  urns  stood  on  this  shell,  each  bearing 
in  silver  letters  a  name  of  the  illustrious  dead — CALHOUN,  CLAY, 
WEBSTER.  This  long,  black-velvet  covered  and  draped  base  supported 
a  tall  black-velvet  and  silver  trimmed  canopy,  reared  on  slight  corner 
uprights,  with  a  nodding  black  plume  at  each  corner,  and  a  gilt  eagle 
surmounting  the  whole.  Two  bronze  eagles  couchant  adorned  the 
sides  of  the  car,  occupying  its  entire  length.  The  Car  was  richly 
draped  throughout  with  black  velvet,  edged  with  gold  and  silver  lace 
and  fringes,  and  with  the  names  of  CALHOUN,  CLAY  and  WEBSTER,  in 
large  silver  letters  on  the  broad  draperies  on  either  side  which  hung  to 
the  ground.  Six  grey  horses,  covered  with  black  velvet  housings,  which 
were  studded  with  silver  stars,  and  stamped  with  shields  containing 
the  arms  of  South  Carolina,  Kentucky  and  Massachusetts,  drew  this 
splendid  Car  slowly  along,  each  horse  being  led  by  a  colored  groom 
clad  in  mourning.  A  military  guard  of  honor  marched  in  single  file, 
with  shouldered  muskets,  on  each  side  of  the  Car.  It  consisted  of  six 
men  from  the  U.  S.  Artillery  corps,  six  from  the  Legion,  six  from  the 
Battalion  of  Artillery,  and  fifteen  from  the  Washington  Regiment, 
thirty -three  men  in  all,  under  Major  Soria.  The  pall  bearers,  thirty- 
one  in  number,  representing  the  different  States  of  the  Union,  marched 
in  single  file,  just  next  to  the  Car,  some  inside  the  guard  of  honor,  and 
the  others  behind. 

The  Delegates  of  Four  each  from  the  States  of  South  Carolina, 
Kentucky  and  Massachusetts,  acting  as  chief  mourners,  now  appeared, 
followed  by  ten  carriages  occupied  by  the  Joint  Committee  of  Arrange- 
ments, the  Mayor  of  the  City,  several  invited  guests,  and  the  Foreign 
Consuls,  as  follows :  J.  H.  Eimer,  Austria  and  Baden ;  P.  Reynaud, 
Brazil ;  F.  Rodewald,  Bremen  ;  F.  F.  C.  Vless,  Denmark  and  Saxony ; 
W.  Mure,  Great  Britain ;  A.  Roger,  France,  decorated ;  W.  Vogel, 
Hamburg,  Oldenburg  and  Prussia;  F.  W.  Kerchoff,  Lubeck ;  W. 
Prehn,  Mecklenburg;  B.  Vails,  Montevideo,  in  uniform;  O.  L.  Dabel- 
steen,  Mexico,  in  uniform  ;  A.  Lanfear,  Sweden  and  Norway  ;  J.  P. 
Uldermeester,  Netherlands ;  J.  A.  Barelli,  Portugal  and  Two  Sicilies, 
in  full  uniform ;  E.  Johns,  Russia ;  L.  C.  Daron,  Rome ;  J.  A.  Merle, 


FUNERAL     CEREMONIES.  35 

Switzerland ;  J.  Lanata,  Sardinia ;  C.  J.  Mansoni,  Tuscany,  and  C. 
Honold,  Wurtemburg.  In  the  carriages  were  also,  in  full  uniform, 
Bvt.  Major  General  D.  E.  Twiggs,  commanding  the  Western  Division 
of  the  U.  S.  Army ;  Col.  Thos.  F.  Hunt,  Assistant  Quarter  Master 
General ;  Bvt.  Lieut.  Col.  A.  J.  Coffee,  Paymaster ;  Bvt.  Lieut.  Col- 
W.  "W.  J.  Bliss,  Assistant  Adjutant  General ;  Bvt.  Lieut  Col.  A.  C. 
Myers,  Assistant  Quarter  Master;  Bvt.  Major  J.  F.  Reynolds,  Third 
Artillery,  aid  de  camp  to  General  Twiggs ;  Dr.  C.  McConnick, 
Assistant  Surgeon;  Bvt.  Capt.  Geo.  W.  Lay,  Sixth  Infantry,  Judge 
Advocate,  Western  Division ;  and  Capt.  W.  T.  Sheveman,  Commis- 
sary of  Subsistence — all  of  the  United  States  Army.  Also  Lieut.  J. 
G.  Bushwood.  commanding  the  U.  S.  Revenue  Cutter  Duane,  then  in 
this  port,  and  her  other  superior  officers,  Second  Lieut.  J.  M.  Jones, 
and  Third  Lieut.  L.  Forrest,  and  a  number  of  the  members  of  the  City 
Council,  the  Recorders  and  other  City  Officers ;  some  of  the  Veterans 
of  1814-15,  and  the  Judges  and  Officers  of  the  City  and  United  States 
Courts. 

A  striking  feature  of  the  Procession  was  then  presented  in  the 
advance  of  the  select  delegations  of  citizens  from  South  Carolina, 
Kentucky  and  Massachusetts,  marching  abreast  in  three  distinct 
columns,  each  of  two  files  front,  and  each  corps  bearing  rich  banners, 
elegant  scarfs,  and  other  mourning  insignia. 

The  South  Carolinians  took  up  the  right  of  the  street,  the  Ken- 
tuckians  the  centre,  and  the  Massachusetts  delegation  the  left.  The 
former  displayed  an  elegant  banner,  having  on  one  side  a  portrait  of 
JOHN  C.  CALHOUN,  and  on  the  other  the  coat  of  arms  of  their  State. 
The  Kentuckians,  mustering  stronger  than  the  two  other  delegations, 
bore  a  beautiful  banner,  with  a  green  ground,  ornamented  with  gold 
and  fringed  with  crape.  The  inscriptions  on  one  side,  "  Our  dead  live 
in  History,"  and  "  Seal  of  Kentucky,"  were  at  the  top  ;  two  figures 
with  clasped  hands  stood  in  the  centre ;  beneath  them  was  the  motto, 
"  United  we  stand — Divided  we  fall ;"  and  at  the  bottom  were  the 
words,  "  Kentucky  Mourns."  On  the  other  side  was  a  portrait  of 
HENRY  CLAY,  a  perspective  view  of  Ashland,  and  underneath,  the 
words,  "  Our  whole  Country," 


36  HISTORY     OF     THE 

The  Massachusetts  delegation  had  a  rich  and  tastefully  adorned 
banner,  with  the  mottoes,  "  Liberty  and  Union,"  "  New  England," 
and  "  One  and  Inseparable."  The  three  delegations  numbered  214 
persons. 

This  Division  was  closed  by  the  officers  of  the  United  States 
Customhouse,  Post  Office,  Land  Office,  Sub  Treasury,  Mint;  the 
Sheriffs  and  District  Clerks,  and  their  Deputies — a  numerous  body, 
all  dressed  in  black  and  wearing  mourning  badges. 

The  Third  Grand  Division  was  opened  by  the  Algiers,  Gretna, 
Carrollton  and  Milneberg  Fire  Companies,  numbering  110  men.  They 
were  followed  by  the  Fire  Department  of  this  city — consisting  of 
twenty-four  companies — 1150  men.  The  Firemen  were  without  their 
engines,  and  were  all  except  No.  2  and  a  Hook  and  Ladder  company, 
dressed  in  full  uniform.  The  two  companies  excepted  were  in 
citizens'  dress  of  black.  Each  company  had  its  banner  adorned  with, 
and  each  man  wore  mourning  badges  or  scarfs.  A  number  of  bands 
of  music  were  interspersed  in  this  long  and  brilliant  column.  Com- 
pany No.  1  had  their  horse  in  line,  shrouded  in  mourning  trappings  ; 
No  2  had  two  horses  ;  No.  9,  three  horses ;  No.  13,  one  horse.  The 
members  of  No.  24  brought  up  the  rear  of  the  Department,  on 
horseback. 

The  Masonic  Fraternity  of  this  State,  accompanied  by  Brethren 
from  Mississippi  and  other  adjoining  States,  followed  the  Firemen. 
They  numbered  200,  marching  four  abreast,  under  the  direction  of 
their  Grand  Marshal,  G.  W.  Race.  Each  member  wore  the  funeral 
regalia  of  the  Order — white  aprons  and  gloves,  and  mourning  scarfs 
and  badges. 

The  Order  of  Odd  Fellows  followed,  and  closed  this  Division. 
A  white  satin  banner,  fringed  with  black,  and  bearing  the  emblematical 
links  of  the  I.  O.  O.  F.  preceded  the  six  Marshals  of  the  Order,  on 
horseback.  Then  marched  the  members  of  the  Order,  350  strong, 
which  is  not  a  third  of  their  whole  number  in  this  city.  They  were 
all  dressed  in  mourning,  and  moved  to  the  strains  of  a  splendid  brass 
band. 


FUNERAL    CEREMONIES.  37 

The  Fourth  Grand  Division  was  headed  by  the  Portuguese, 
Spanish,  French  and  Italian  Benevolent  Societies,  numbering  180 
members,  with  a  fine  band  of  music,  furled  flags  in  mourning,  and  in 
the  centre  of  the  Portuguese  line,  a  black  velvet  pall  embroidered  with 
a  large  silver  cross,  and  carried  by  -six  bearers. 

The  Mechanics'  Society,  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  influential 
in  the  city,  followed.  They  mustered  156  men,  appropriately  and 
simply  decorated. 

Next  came  the  New  Orleans  Typographical  Union,  120  in 
number — prominent  for  their  respectable  array  as  well  as  for  their 
decorations  and  decorum.  They  were  marshalled  by  Mr.  Charles 
Hall,  and  accompanied  by  several  members  of  the  press,  and  persons 
formerly  connected  with  the  printing  business.  The  old  banner  of 
the  Union  was  displayed,  bearing  on  one  side  the  mottoes,  "  Printing, 
the  Art  Preservative  of  Arts,"  "  State  of  Louisiana,"  "  Union  and 
Confidence,"  with  the  coat  of  arms  of  this  State.  On  the  other  side 
was  the  portrait  of  a  Ramage  press,  with  the  inscriptions,  "  Tyrants' 
Foe  and  Peoples'  Friend,"  and  "  New  Orleans  Typographical  Asso- 
ciation, founded  April,  1835." 

The  Sons  of  Temperance,  with  an  elegant  blue  silk  banner 
fringed  with  gold,  followed,  marshalled  by  W.  S.  Mount,  and  num- 
bering 145  men.  The  Hibernian,  Shamrock,  St.  Patrick  and  St. 
Andrew  Benevolent  Societies,  and  the  St.  Michael  Benevolent  Burial 
Society,  mustering  in  all  130  individuals,  closed  the  Fourth  Division, 
with  banners  and  music. 

The  Screwmens'  Benevolent  Association,  plainly  decorated,  opened 
the  Fifth  Grand  Division.  They  numbered  226  men,  and  were  pre- 
ceded by  a  band  of  music  and  the  simple  banner  of  the  Society. 

The  members  of  the  German  Turnverein  Association  in  their 
picturesque  dress,  followed,  mustering  some  30  men.  They  preceded, 
what  was  one  of  the  most  interesting  features  of  the  procession,  the 
Board  of  Directors,  teachers  and  boys  of  the  Public  Schools  of  the 
four  Districts  of  the  City.  The  boys  were  over  one  thousand  in 
number,  marching  four  abreast,  and  mostly  under  ten  years  of  age. 
The  Male  Orphan  Asylums  were  represented  by  104  of  their  little 


38  HISTORYOPTHE 


proteges  dressed  in  their  usual  plain,  neat  uniform.  The  whole  Pro- 
cession was  closed  by  the  Association  of  Stevedores,  who  to  the 
number  of  thirty,  rode  on  horseback,  and  volunteered  to  take  the 
position  in  the  ranks  held  by  them. 

It  is  impossible  to  describe  the  ensemble  produced  by  this  imposing 
body,  numbering  as  it  did  over  five  thousand  persons,  each  arrayed  in 
some  insignia  of  mourning.  What  with  the  variety  and  amount  of 
rich  or  elegant  costumes  and  banners,  and  continued  streams  of  music 
filling  the  air,  the  effect  was  quite  bewildering.  The  coup  d'oeil  of  the 
long  column  and  the  spectators,  filling  up  the  street,  and  seen  from  a 
distance  was  truly  grand  and  impressive. 

The  Procession  took  exactly  one  hour  and  forty  minutes  to  pass 
any  one  particular  point ;  its  length  was  over  one  mile  and  a  half;  and 
from  the  time  it  left  Lafayette  Square  to  the  time  it  returned  there  was 
two  hours  and  half. 

On  arriving  at  the  Square,  by  St.  Charles  street,  the  Washington 
Regiment,  under  Col.  Wood,  entered,  and  formed  on  either  side  of 
the  avenue  leading  from  the  street  to  the  Cenotaph.  Up  this  armed 
avenue  to  the  platform  of  the  Cenotaph  marched  the  Officiating 
Clergy,  the  Orators  of  the  Day,  then  the  Committee  of  Arrangements, 
Commanding  Officers  with  their  Staffs,  the  Officers  of  the  Army, 
Revenue  Service,  and  the  Veterans  of  1814-15,  saluted  as  they  passed 
by  the  Washington  Regiment. 

The  rest  of  the  Procession  then  filed  into  the  Square.  The 
Kentucky  and  Massachusetts  delegations  occupied  the  north  side, 
facing  the  Cenotaph  ;  the  ftfasons  and  Odd  Fellows  were  in  their  rear. 
The  U.  S.  Artillery  was  drawn  up  at  the  foot  of  the  Cenotaph  on  the 
Camp  street  side  ;  the  Battalion  of  Artillery  took  up  the  ground  in 
their  rear.  The  Legion,  on  the  same  side,  opposite  the  Battalion,  was 
covered  in  front  by  the  South  Carolina  delegation,  who  stood  near  the 
south-east  corner  of  the  Cenotaph.  The  Firemen,  the  Civic  Societies, 
and  boys  of  the  schools  took  up  the  whole  of  the  south  side  of  the 
Square. 

Presently  up  the  guarded  avenue,  from  St.  Charles  street,  marched 
a  band  of  music,  followed  by  the  thirty-one  Pall  Bearers  in  their 


FUNERAL     CEREMONIES.  39 

white  scarfs.  All  heads  were  bared  as  they  approached ;  the  troops 
presented  arms,  and  there  was  a  general  silence  in  the  vast  mass  of 
lookers  on  as  the  Pall  Bearers  mounted  the  steps  of  the  Cenotaph, 
where  the  Grand  Marshal  and  the  other  persons  previously  mentioned, 
stood  ready  to  receive  them.  Three  of  the  Pall  Bearers  bore  the 
urns.  These  were  deposited  on  the  tall  altar  in  the  centre  of  the 
platform ;  an  impressive,  death-like  stillness  reigned  while  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Walker  pronounced  a  brief  but  feeling  benediction,  and  then  the 
Grand  Marshal  proclaimed  the  Procession  to  be  dismissed. 

It  is  not  an  unfit  place  here  to  state  that  the  credit  of  the 
admirable  order  observed  in,  and  imposing  effect  produced  by  this 
grand  Procession,  was  mostly  due  to  the  tact,  experience,  and  energy 
of  the  Grand  Marshal. 

The  different  societies  and  corps,  civil  and  military,  then  moved 
out  of  the  Square  to  the  sound  of  gay  music,  and  the  immense  crowds 
surrounding  the  place  began  to  disperse.  The  orations  at  Lyceum 
Hall,  Odd  Fellows'  Hall  and  the  Presbyterian  Church  followed,  and 
were  attended  by  large  and  evidently  much  interested  audiences.  By 
the  able  manner  in  which  the  Committees  of  Reception  at  these 
localities  performed  their  duties,  the  most  perfect  order  was  preserved 
throughout.  The  ceremonies  observed  at  them  before  and  after  the 
eulogies  are  sufficiently  indicated  in  the  programme.  The  decorations 
of  these  three  halls  were  under  the  charge  of  Mr.  Etter,  and  they 
reflected  very  favorably  for  his  taste  and  skill.  A  minute  description 
of  them  is  deemed  consistent  with  the  purposes  of  this  record. 

At  the  Odd  Fellows'  Hall,  on  Camp  street,  the  decorations  were 
of  the  chastest  character.  To  those  who  did  not  see  the  large 
splendid  room  in  which  the  oration  on  CLAY  was  delivered,  it  will  only 
be  necessary  to  say  that  the  seventeen  windows  which  gave  light  to 
the  magnificent  Ball  Room,  as  well  as  the  nine  blank  windows  therein, 
were  all  curtained  and  draped  in  mourning.  The  gallery  or  orchestra 
was  most  tastefully  festooned,  and  heavy  flounces  of  black  and  white 
crape  fell  gracefully  from  every  fold  of  their  full  proportions.  All  the 
large  mirrors  in  the  room  were  handsomely  craped  without  stint,  and 
the  platform  presented  a  beautiful  coup  ffoeil.  The  stand  itself  was 


40  HISTORYOFTHE 

carpeted  with  black,  whilst  around  its  front  and  sides  hung  a  profusion 
of  black  and  white  draperies,  interspersed  with  rosettes  of  crape. 
The  speaker's  stand  in  the  centre  formed  the  apex  of  a  sweeping 
drapery,  which  extended  from  either  side  to  the  busts  of  the  "dead 
— though  living"  CLAY,  and  thence  descending  to  the  corners  of  the 
stand,  falling  off  in  heavy  folds.  The  view  from  the  front  of  the  hall 
to  the  speaker's  stand  was  of  a  sombre  magnificence. 

The  Presbyterian  Church,  on  South  street,  where  the  oration  on 
WEBSTER  was  pronounced,  was  almost  the  counterpart  of  Odd  Fel- 
lows' Hall  inside,  except  that  the  windows  were  not  curtained. 
Draperies  encircled  the  church  entirely,  whilst  heavy  folds  of  black 
cloth  fell  from  the  tall  steeple  outside  to  the  base  of  the  columns 
beneath. 

The  Lyceum  in  the  City  Hall,  where  the  eulogy  on  CALHOUN 
was  delivered,  was  draped,  as  near  as  the  difference  in  rooms  would 
permit,  in  a  similar  manner  to  the  room  in  Odd  Fellows'  Hall. 

After  the  delivery  of  the  eulogies,  the  streets  still  continued 
thronged  until  a  late  hour,  the  people  being  apparently  unwilling  to 
lose  any  opportunity  of  examining  and  engraving  on  their  minds  the 
many  objects  and  scenes  that  rendered  the  day  so  peculiar  and  so 
mournfuL  In  the  evening  Lafayette  Square  presented  a  strange 
spectacle.  It  was  lighted  up  by  tall,  fixed  torches  arranged  in  regular 
order  in  the  outline  of  a  cross  over  the  area.  The  night  was  black 
and  windy,  and  the  waving  of  the  dark  trees,  the  ghastly  glare  of  the 
flaring  lights  on  the  tall,  gloomy,  mysterious  looking  Cenotaph,  formed 
a  singular,  impressive  and  awing  picture. 

Thus  ended  a  day  which  has  formed  a  memorable  epoch  in  the 
history  of  New  Orleans.  The  citizens  have  a  right  to  be  proud  of  the 
manner  in  which  they  testified  their  veneration  for  the  memories, 
admiration  for  the  talents  and  services,  and  sorrow  for  the  loss  of 
the  three  greatest  American  Statesmen  and  Orators  of  the  present 
century. 


A  DISCOURSE 

UPON   THE   LIFE,    CHARACTER   AND    PUBLIC    SERVICES    OF 

JOHN  C.  CALHOUN, 

PRONOUNCED  BEFORE  THE  CITIZENS  OF  NEW  ORLEANS,  DECEMBER  9th,  185-2,  BY  GEORGE 
EUSTIS,  L.L.  D.,  CHIEF  JUSTICE  OF  THE  STATE  OF  LOUISIANA. 


FELLOW  CITIZENS  : 

The  duty  assigned  to  me  in  the  ceremonies  of  the  day,  is  to 
address  you  on  the  life  and  character  of  JOHN  C.  CALHOUN. 

A  meeting  of  our  citizens  was  convened  immediately  after  his 
death,  and  I  was  honored  with  a*  invitation  to  deliver  an  eulogy  on 
that  occasion. 

The  condition  of  the  public  mind  on  those  topics  with  which  Mr. 
CALHOUN'S  political  course  had  been  identified,  was  deemed  at  the 
time  too  excited  for  a  proper  appreciation  of  its  merits.  This  objec- 
tion has  been  gradually  removed,  until  this  imposing  ceremony  in 
honor  of  the  illustrious  American  triumvirate  responds  to  the  popular 
voice  in  homage  to  the  memory  of  CALHOUN. 

The  lapse  of  time  since  his  decease  has  offered  opportunities  for 
a  more  deliberate  consideration  of  his  character,  and  the  events  which 
have  since  transpired  enable  us  better  to  judge  of  the  sincerity  and 
sagacity  of  his  political  views,  and  to  do  greater  justice  to  his  motives 
and  opinions. 

As  we  can  all  recollect,  the  intelligence  of  his  death  was  received 
with  consternation  by  the  people  of  Louisiana.  It  was  visible  on 
every  countenance,  and  every  one  seemed  to  feel  that  a  great  calamity 
had  befallen  him.  Men's  minds  were  disturbed  by  the  aspect  of  affairs 
at  the  Capitol,  and  the  counsels  of  CALHOUN  were  looked  up  to  in  the 
emergency.  The  influence  of  his  intellect,  and  strong  hold  upon 
public  opinion,  was  regarded  as  one  of  the  main  preservatives  of 


42  EULOGY     ON 


public  tranquility.  Although  no  more  than  the  relations  of  other 
public  men  existed  between  him  and  the  people  of  this  State,  his  loss 
was  deplored  as  of  a  benefactor  in  intimate  connection  with  them. 

But  it  was  in  his  native  State  that  his  memory  received  its  well 
merited  homage.  The  deep  veneration,  the  silent  but  heartfelt  grief, 
manifested  by  all  classes — bond  as  well  as  free — bore  testimony  to 
his  private  as  well  as  his  public  worth.  Nor  was  this  a  mere  ebullition 
of  feeling  on  the  occasion  which  passed  away  with  the  pageant  of  his 
obsequies.  For  months  after  his  interment  his  grave  was  strewn 
with  flowers  by  the  hands  of  affection — a  beautiful  homage  of  the 
female  heart  to  purity  and  genius.  The  generous  emotions  called 
forth  by  his  death,  were  the  consequences  of  his  character  as  a  man, 
a  neighbor,  and  a  friend.  Mere  public  services  would  not  have 
caused  them ;  but  with  him  the  private  virtues  were  admirably  blended 
with  the  highest  intellectual  endowments,  and  were  as  vivid  and 
as  actively  employed  among  those  about  him,  as  if  he  had  been 
confined  to  the  circle  of  domestic  life.  In  estimating  the  character 
of  Mr.  CALHOUN,  we  must  consider  his  private  virtues  as  one  of  the 
main  elements  of  his  greatness,  and  of  the  great  influence  over  his 
fellow  men,  which  he  possessed  to  a  remarkable  extent. 

He  was  born  in  1782,  in  Abbeville  District,  South  Carolina,  at 
the  settlement  which  still  bears  the  name  of  his  family,  in  the  midst 
of  the  tumults  of  the  Revolutionary  War.  The  early  impressions  of 
his  childhood  were  necessarily  associated  with  its  traditions  and 
events,  and  created  in  him  those  strong  characteristics  which  marked 
his  after  life.  Brought  up  in  the  midst  of  a  people  in  a  measure 
isolated,  in  whom  truth,  independence,  and  manliness  were  the 
prominent  virtues,  and  whom  the  artificial  modes  of  society  had  not 
even  reached,  still  less  contaminated,  a  sense  of  duty  became  his 
paramount  thought.  The  want  of  academic  instruction  was  more 
than  supplied  by  parental  care.  His  early  education  was  in  the 
sanctuary  of  his  family.  The  strong  intelligence  of  the  father,  the 
watchfulness  and  affection  of  the  mother,  directed  and  sustained  the 
youthful  mind  in  the  way  of  knowledge  and  the  paths  of  right  and 
truth,  from  which  surrounding  associations  offered  no  temptation  to 
deviate.  He  thus  had  the  best  basis  for  his  future  intellectual  cultiva- 


JOHNC.CALHOUN.  43 

tion,  and  without  this,  all  education  is  for  the  most  part  of  little  use 
either  to  the  individual  or  to  society.  Under  our  free  institutions 
what  is  the  State  but  an  aggregation  of  families  ?  The  impressions 
which  the  child  receives  from  the  parent  within  the  magic  circle  of 
home,  are  never  effaced.  Misfortune,  depravity,  crime,  even  time, 
which  spares  nothing  else,  are  powerless  to  destroy  them.  If  these 
early  impressions  are  for  good,  the  foundation  is  laid,  and  learning 
and  knowledge  may  well  be  based  upon  it.  The  parental  education 
in  early  life  is  not  only  the  best,  but  the  safety  of  the  State  rests  in  a 
measure  upon  it.  As  long  as  the  sanctity  of  the  family  and  its  duties 
are  sustained,  self-government  can  maintain  itself  in  security.  This 
education  Mr.  CALHOUN  received  under  circumstances  the  most 
favorable  for  the  future  development  of  his  intellectual  powers,  which 
were  neither  weakened  by  undue  excitement,  nor  diverted  to  trifling 
or  frivolous  subjects,  but  employed  about  the  duties  and  relations  of 
men.  The  manner  in  which  his  youthful  mind  was  trained,  necessarily 
led  him  to  reflection  and  the  appreciation  of  the  value  and  beauty  of 
intellectual  pursuits.  His  reading  was  probably  interrupted  and 
desultory,  and  it  does  not  appear  that  he  had  the  benefit  of  any 
classical  instruction  until  after  his  manhood.  He  entered  Yale 
College  in  1802,  and  was  graduated  two  years  afterwards.  His 
attainments  there  show  that  the  time  of  his  youth  had  been  usefully 
employed.  He  had  brought  with  him  habits  of  application  and  a 
maturity  of  intellect  which  enabled  him  easily  to  master  his  collegiate 
studies,  while  his  sense  of  duty  saved  him  from  idleness  and  the 
allurements  of  pleasure.  His  position  in  the  institution  was  of  the 
highest  distinction,  and  he  had  the  good  fortune  to  receive  the  praise 
of  its  distinguished  head,  by  whom  it  was  an  honor  to  be  praised,  and 
who  with  unerring  sagacity  predicted  the  future  brilliant  success  of 
his  pupil.  Nor  was  the  impression  less  strong  among  the  fellow 
students  of  Mr.  CALHOUN,  and  among  the  traditions  of  the  college  his 
name  is  always  mentioned  as  one  of  its  brightest  ornaments.  After 
having  been  graduated  he  became  a  student  of  law,  and  after  his 
admission  to  the  bar,  he  practised  for  a  few  years  with  distinction  in 
his  native  State. 


44  EULOGTON 

In  contemplating  the  early  part  of  the  life  of  Mr.  CALHOUN,  we 
see  an  earnest  of  what  followed.  We  observe  in  him  no  waste  of  time 
or  opportunity,  none  of  the  follies  and  passions  incident  to  his  age,  but  a 
steady  advance  in  the  great  purpose  of  his  life,  and  the  acquisition  of 
knowledge  as  the  element  of  future  usefulness.  With  very  scanty 
means  of  improvement  in  his  early  years,  we  find  him  closing  his 
academic  course  with  distinguished  honors,  and  with  a  reputation 
which  the  most  worthy  might  envy.  His  course  at  the  bar,  and  in  the 
State  Legislature  to  which  he  was  elected,  was  eminently  successful. 
On  being  known  his  merits  could  not  fail  to  be  appreciated,  and  after 
a  few  years  he  was  transferred  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States 
by  the  voters  of  his  native  district.  It  was  there  in  the  conflicts  which 
preceded  the  war  of  1812,  that  Mr.  CALHOUN  made  his  first  impression 
on  the  American  people — an  impression  which  was  kept  alive  during 
the  progress  of  the  war,  and  which  has  never  been  effaced  from  those 
who  felt  it.  The  times  were  the  most  portentous  and  alarming  of 
any  which  this  country  has  ever  witnessed  since  the  Revolution. 
Harassed  by  accumulated  vexations  and  wrongs,  submission  was  no 
longer  consistent  with  honor,  and  the  emergency  was  met  in  a  spirit 
worthy  of  a  nation  conscious  of  her  dignity  and  rights.  War  was 
declared  with  Great  Britain,  but  the  unanimity  so  much  needed  at  the 
crisis,  did  not  prevail  in  our  public  counsels  ;  and  it  was  in  the  conflicts 
which  this  difference  of  opinion  gave  rise  to,  that  the  ability  of  Mr. 
CALHOUN  became  conspicuous,  and  established  his  fame  as  an  Ameri- 
can Statesman.  The  occasion  was  one  requiring  the  highest  faculties 
with  which  man  is  endowed.  Mere  oratory  was  as  nothing,  or  an 
humble  accessory  to  the  work  of  that  day.  The  statesman  had  to 
deal  with  difficulties  of  the  gravest  kind.  His  was  not  the  easy  task 
of  watching  public  opinion  in  order  to  follow  it,  but  the  labor  of 
creating  and  sustaining  it.  His  work  was  to  call  forth  and  marshal 
the  resources  of  the  nation — moral  as  well  as  natural — and  direct 
them  in  the  struggle  with  the  self-styled  mistress  of  the  ocean,  and 
arbiter  of  the  nations  of  the  earth.  History  has  recorded  the  deeds 
of  those  days.  Our  victories  on  the  ocean  and  the  lakes,  which  the 
skill  and  the  intrepidity  of  our  navy  obtained,  and  on  the  land  within 
the  sound  of  the  Great  Cataract,  and  at  New  Orleans,  keep  alive 


JOHNC.     CALHOUN.  45 

their  memory.  With  them  are  associated  the  names  of  the  illustrious 
patriots,  who  by  their  indomitable  spirit  and  steadfastness,  maintained 
the  cause  of  their  country  amidst  the  vicissitudes  of  war,  and  in  the 
darkest  moments  of  defeat  and  disaster. 

An  occasion  like  this,  as  was  natural,  brought  together  in  the 
public  counsels  men  of  the  greatest  talent  and  distinction  ;  and  it  is 
no  disparagement  to  the  fame  of  any  one  of  them,  to  say  that  Mr. 
CALHOUN  was  in  all  respects  his  equal.  Nor  were  the  honors  of  those 
days  easily  won.  The  opposition  throughout  the  administration  of  Mr. 
Madison  was  conducted  by  men  of  the  highest  character,  influence,  and 
ability.  Many  of  them  had  established  their  reputations  as  public 
men,  and  possessed  great  weight  with  the  country — men  with  whom 
it  was  honorable  to  compete  in  so  noble  a  cause.  Amidst  all  the 
differences  and  collisions  of  opinion,  it  was  the  peculiar  good  fortune 
of  Mr.  CALHOUN,  that  while  he  supported  with  zeal  and  firmness  his 
own  convictions  of  policy,  he  at  the  same  time  secured  the  good  will 
and  respect  of  his  distinguished  opponents,  who  on  frequent  occasions 
bore  testimony  to  his  great  talents  and  worth. 

The  close  of  the  war  found  him  one  of  the  foremost  men  of  the 
nation.  Perhaps  in  the  whole  course  of  our  history  there  is  no  man 
who  at  his  time  of  life  had  earned  to  himself  so  elevated  a  position. 
Already  he  had  won  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  his  fellow  citizens, 
and  established  his  fame  as  an  orator  and  statesman.  Attracted  by 
his  urbanity  of  manners  and  the  fascination  of  his  varied  intellectual 
powers,  all  sought  his  society,  and  none  came  from  it  without  the 
impression  of  his  greatness.  Nor  did  his  success  disturb  in  any 
respect  the  habits  of  his  life,  or  induce  any  relaxation  from  his  laborious 
application  to  intellectual  pursuits.  His  mind  was  constantly  employed 
upon  those  great  topics  of  political  science  which  were  his  favorite 
studies,  and  which  occupied  his  leisure  during  life. 

In  1817  commenced  the  administration  of  James  Monroe,  the 
successor  of  the  enlightened  and  virtuous  Madison,  Mr.  CALHOUN 
received  from  him  the  appointment  of  Secretary  of  War,  and  continued 
at  the  head  of  that  department  until  the  close  of  his  second  adminis- 
tration in  1825.  The  duties  of  that  office  were  not  at  that  period  a 
mere  administrative  routine.  On  the  contrary,  the  late  war  had 


46  EULOGYON 


accumulated  a  mass  of  unfinished  business  in  the  department.  Its 
difficulties  were  increased  by  the  want  of  a  proper  system  of  expendi- 
ture and  accountability.  This  had  not  been  felt  with  a  small  army  in 
time  of  peace,  but  necessarily  produced  great  embarrassments  during 
the  operations  of  war,  and  confusion  at  its  close.  Under  ordinary 
circumstances  an  office  like  this  offered  little  inducement  to  a  man  in 
the  position  of  Mr.  CALHOUN.  The  exchange  from  his  career  of 
triumph  in  the  House  of  Representatives  to  the  details  and  drudgery 
of  an  administrative  office  could  present  no  attractions  to  a  man  of  his 
temperament  There  is  generally  among  men  of  his  class  a  fondness 
for  the  pursuits  in  which  they  excel,  and  an  aversion  to  those  of  an 
opposite  character.  They  leave  with  regret  the  theatre  in  which  they 
address  and  hold  intercourse  with  a  people  and  receive  its  applause, 
for  the  fastidious  and  irksome  labors  of  a  place  in  which  their  voice  is 
not  heard,  and  their  exertions  are  unknown  or  unappreciated.  It  was 
sufficient  however  that  this  branch  of  the  government  most  needed 
reformation  to  secure  to  the  country  the  benefit  of  his  services. 

During  the  quiet  and  prosperous  administration  of  Mr.  Monroe, 
the  War  Department  under  his  charge  was  reorganized,  and  the 
present  admirable  system  introduced  and  carried  into  effect.  It  is  no 
small  praise  to  his  skill  and  ability  that  they  commanded  the  confi- 
dence of  military  men,  and  that  his  administration  of  the  War  Depart- 
ment is  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  our  military  establishment.  In 
considering  the  recent  achievements  of  our  army — the  fortunate  results 
of  courage,  skill,  and  the  complete  organization  of  every  branch  of 
the  service,  we  ought  not  to  overlook  the  intelligence  which  first  gave 
the  direction  and  established  the  organization  from  which  so  much 
has  inured  to  the  honor  of  our  arms  and  the  strength  of  our  republic. 
In  taking  charge  of  the  War  Department  Mr.  CALHOUN  was  thrown 
entirely  upon  his  own  judgment  and  responsibility.  The  greatest 
confusion  prevailed  in  all  branches  of  the  department  Nearly  fifty 
millions  of  accounts  remained  outstanding  and  unadjusted.  After 
reducing  them  to  a  few  millions,  and  introducing  order  and  account- 
ability in  every  part  of  the  service,  and  bringing  down  the  annual 
expenditure  of  the  army  to  four  millions  and  a  half,  without  taking  a 
single  comfort  from  officer  or  soldier,  he  left  the  department  in  a  con- 


S  I 

JOHNC.     CALHOUN.  47 

dition  which  might  be  advantageously  compared  with  the  best  in  any 
country.  He  removed  higher  up  our  military  posts  on  the  Mississippi 
and  Missouri,  and  took  measures  for  the  security  of  our  frontier  and 
the  extension  of  the  fur  trade.  His  whole  administration  was  charac- 
terized by  system,  foresight  and  activity,  and  established  his  reputa- 
tion as  an  enlightened  and  accomplished  statesman  in  the  fullest  sense 
of  the  term. 

In  the  canvass  for  President  which  came  on  towards  the  close  of 
the  last  term  of  Mr.  Monroe,  the  name  of  Mr.  CALHOUN  was  brought 
before  the  public  for  that  distinguished  station.  He  was  not  however 
a  candidate  for  the  Presidency  at  the  election,  but  received  a  large 
majority  of  electoral  votes  for  the  office  of  Vice-President,  and  took 
his  seat  as  the  presiding  officer  of  the  Senate  on  the  4th  March,  1825. 
He  was  re-elected  in  1829,  and  remained  in  office  until  1832. 

During  the  time  that  Mr.  CALHOFN  filled  the  chair  of  the  Senate, 
it  is  conceded  by  all  that  he  presided  over  the  deliberations  of  that 
august  body  with  singular  dignity  and  moderation.  Amidst  the  con- 
flicts of  debate,  the  struggles  and  activity  of  party  spirit,  his  justice 
and  impartiality  were  never  questioned.  Some  of  his  decisions  gave 
rise  to  much  discussion  in  the  excited  state  of  feeling  at  the  tune,  and 
different  views  were  taken  of  their  correctness  ;  but  upon  a  dispassionate 
and  thorough  consideration  of  the  subject,  the  views  taken  by  him 
of  the  duties  of  his  office,  and  of  the  relations  of  the  Vice-President 
towards  the  Senate  under  the  Constitution  were  concurred  in,  and 
since  that  time  the  rule  established  by  his  decisions  has  been  acted 
upon  as  a  settled  constitutional  principle. 

The  state  of  things  which  occasioned  Mr.  CALHOTJN'S  resignation 
of  the  Vice-Presidency,  and  his  immediate  transfer  as  a  senator  to  the 
body  over  which  he  had  with  such  general  satisfaction  presided,  con- 
stitutes one  of  the  most  important  epochs  in  the  constitutional  history 
of  our  country.  South  Carolina  through  the  organ  of  a  convention  of 
her  citizens,  had  declared  by  a  solemn  act  some  of  the  most  important 
laws  of  the  United  States  to  be  unconstitutional,  null  and  void,  had 
pledged  herself  to  renounce  all  connexion  with  the  Union,  if  an  attempt 
should  be  made  to  carry  them  into  effect  by  force,  and  her  legislature 
was  engaged  in  maturing  measures  necessary  to  meet  such  a  contin- 


48  EULOGYON 


gency.  The  President  of  the  United  States  stood  pledged  before  the 
country  to  execute  the  laws.  His  name,  his  services,  and  his  known 
determined  resoluteness  of  character,  gave  weight  to  the  solemn  pledge 
which  he  renewed  in  a  formal  proclamation.  An  appeal  to  force 
appeared  to  be  inevitable,  and  the  future  to  offer  little  else  than  con- 
fusion, civil  discord  and  violence.  Our  country  was  saved  from  this 
result  by  a  concession  on  the  part  of  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  made  in  a  spirit  of  justice  and  of  peace.  The  obnoxious  tariff 
laws  were  modified,  and  all  further  agitation  on  the  subject  was  termi- 
nated. 

Just  before  the  commencement  of  the  session  of  Congress  in 
which  these  momentous  matters  were  to  be  acted  upon,  Mr.  CALHOUN 
resigned  the  office  of  Vice-President,  and  was  appointed  Senator  by 
the  legislature  of  South  Carolina  to  fill  the  vacancy  made  by  the  elec- 
tion of  General  Hayne  to  the  office  of  Governor  of  the  State.  The 
avowed  object  of  his  change  of  position  from  that  of  presiding  officer 
to  that  of  member  of  the  Senate,  was  to  explain  before  it — as  it  were 
in  the  presence  of  the  people — the  principles  and  conduct  of  the  party 
of  which  he  prided  himself  upon  being  the  champion.  This  act  alone 
bespeaks  greatness,  and  bears  the  impress  of  confidence  and  manly 
sincerity,  of  noble  disinterestedness  and  self  devotion.  Public  expecta- 
tion was  at  its  highest  point,  and  was  not  long  in  suspense.  At  the 
appropriate  time  Mr.  CALHOUN  brought  forward  a  series  of  resolutions 
embodying  the  principles  upon  which  the  measures  of  South  Carolina 
had  been  based,  and  which  he  relied  upon  for  her  justification. 

The  prominent  point  disclosed  in  these  resolutions  is,  that  under 
our  system  any  State  has  a  right  to  annul  at  discretion  within  its  limits 
any  law  of  the  General  Government  which  it  may  deem  unconstitu- 
tional. The  foundation  of  this  right  is  denied  from  the  assumption 
that  the  United  States  are  not  one  people  but  a  confederacy  of  States 
in  certain  things  mutually  independent  of  each  other,  each  possessing 
the  same  right  to  judge  of  the  extent  of  the  obligations  subsisting 
between  itself  and  the  others,  and  of  the  manner  in  which  those  obli- 
gations are  observed  or  violated  that  is  possessed  and  exercised  by  the 
parties  to  an  alliance  of  independent  sovereigns  ;  that  a  breach  of  the 
conditions  of  the  compact  by  one  party  exempts  the  others  from  the 


JOHN     C.     CALHOUN.  49 

obligations  to  observe  it,  and  leaves  them  at  liberty  to  renounce  it 
entirely,  or  to  take  such  other  measures,  not  inconsistent  with  justice, 
as  they  may  deem  expedient  for  the  security  of  their  rights.  This 
doctrine  was  sustained  by  Mr.  CALHOUN  as  the  shield  of  State  rights, 
and  essential  to  the  protection  of  the  minority  interests  of  the  commu- 
nity, and  the  liberty  and  union  of  the  States.  The  right  assumed  was 
not  that  of  resistance  on  the  part  of  the  State  in  cases  of  unconstitu- 
tional and  extreme  oppression,  but  it  clothed  the  States  with  the  power 
of  annulling  in  the  exercise  of  their  own  constitutional  power  the  acts 
of  the  General  Government. 

The  principles  set  forth  in  the  resolutions  of  Mr.  CALHOUN  met 
with  a  feeble  support  out  of  the  State  in  which  they  were  acted  upon. 
The  judgment  of  our  ablest  publicists  was  adverse  to  them,  as  were 
the  opinions  of  most  of  the  legislatures  of  different  States  expressed 
on  the  proceedings  of  the  South  Carolina  Convention.  The  great 
mass  of  public  opinion  was  with  the  General  Government,  and  the 
State  of  Virginia  alone  interposed  her  good  offices  for  the  suspension 
of  the  enforcement  of  the  nullifying  ordinance. 

These  discouraging  appearances  had  no  effect  in  checking  the 
zeal  or  weakening  the  purpose  of  Mr.  CALHOUN.  He  had  from  his 
official  positions  been  for  nearly  fifteen  years  withdrawn  from  all  public 
debate,  but  on  taking  his  seat  in  the  Senate  he  was  at  once  found  ready 
for  all  its  exigencies.  With  an  enlarged  experience,  great  maturity  of 
intellectual  powers,  a  practical  observation  of  the  workings  of  our 
Government  i:i  all  its  tendencies,  and  the  high  reputation  which  his 
public  labors  had  secured  to  him,  he  appeared  before  the  people  of  the 
United  States  confident  of  being  able  to  vindicate  his  doctrines,  to 
impress  in  all  who  heard  him  the  conviction  of  their  truth,  and  establish 
them  as  a  part  of  the  fundamental  law  of  the  land.  JVtr.  CALHOUN 
advocated  the  doctrine  of  Nullification  as  a  peaceable  remedy  against 
grievances.  It  was  not  new;  it  was  considered  as  resting  in  high 
authority,  but  had  never  been  before  acted  upon,  and  its  application 
was  attempted  for  the  first  time.  He  thought  that  our  federative  sys- 
tem in  extreme  cases  authorized  this  intermediate  remedy  between 
'oppression  and  resistance;  that  instead  of  being  a  measure  of  revolution 


50  EULOGVON 


and  anarchy,  it  was  one  of  peace  and  safety ;  and  that  its  existence 
and  recognition  would  impress  moderation  and  justice  upon  the  action 
of  the  General  Government.  These  doctrines  descend  to  posterity 
under  the  sanction  of  his  great  name. 

The  debate  which  followed  on  this  occasion  was  one  of  the  most 
memorable  in  our  history — it  was  addressed  to  the  standard  of  the 
highest  intelligence,  and  did  honor  to  all  who  took  part  in  it.  The 
foundations  of  our  Government  were  thoroughly  examined  and  dis- 
cussed with  an  ability  rarely  equalled,  and  the  whole  debate  was 
conducted  with  the  elevation  and  dignity  which  the  gravity  of  the 
subject  required.  However  unsuccessful  Mr.  CALHOUN  had  been  in 
establishing  his  doctrines  under  the  theory  of  the  Constitution,  there 
was  but  one  impression  as  to  his  great  ability,  whether  displayed  in 
assailing  the  positions  of  his  antagonists,  or  in  fortifying  and  defending 
his  own.  ' 

This  discussion,  involving  as  it  did  the  gravest  questions  that  ever 
occur  with  us,  furnishes  the  most  thorough  exposition  of  the  origin  and 
theory  of  our  political  system  which  has  yet  been  produced,  and  affords 
materials  invaluable  to  the  future  historian  and  statesman.  The 
conduct  of  Mr.  CALHOUN  in  this  controversy  between  the  General 
Government  and  the  State  of  South  Carolina,  was  necessarily  subject 
to  severe  animadversion.  The  weight  of  his  influence,  moral  and 
political,  which  was  thus  brought  to  bear  against  the  Union,  was  looked 
upon  with  no  favor  by  a  large  majority  of  his  political  friends,  but 
without  injuring  in  the  slightest  degree  their  confidence  in  the  purity 
of  his  motives  or  the  elevation  of  his  purpose — the  sentiment  on  the 
part  of  those  who  entertained  the  most  opposite  opinions  to  his,  was 
one  of  regret  without  unkindness  or  the  least  asperity. 

Mr.  CALHOUN  remained  in  the  Senate  until  after  the  ratification 
of  the  Ashburton  treaty  in  1843,  devoting  his  whole  resources  of 
knowledge  and  experience  to  the  investigation  and  settlement  of  the 
important  questions  of  public  policy  which  were  under  consideration 
during  that  period.  He  was  afterwards  called  from  his  retirement  to 
fill  the  office  of  Secretary  of  State  under  the  administration  of  Mr. 
Tyler,  and  was  subsequently  returned  again  to  the  Senate  during  that 
of  Mr.  Polk,  and  remained  in  that  body  until  his  death. 


JOHN     C.     CALHOUN.  51 

Having  acted  a  distinguished  part  in  all  the  great  political  ques- 
tions of  his  time,  he  has  left  to  posterity  the  means  of  forming  a  just 
appreciation  of  his  conduct,  his  views,  and  his  principles.  His  powers 
have  been  tested  in  various  ways  and  in  different  spheres. 

His  Senatorial  labors  being  the  most  recent,  and  having  been 
directed  to  those  all-absorbing  topics  which  still  occupy  the  public 
mind,  form  an  interesting  part  of  our  history  and  claim  a  large  share 
of  public  attention.  As  they  were  the  result  of  reflection  and  ex- 
perience under  great  opportunities  of  observation  during  his  political 
life,  they  will  probably  be  considered  hereafter  as  the  crowning  glory 
of  his  name.  It  is  fortunate  for  a  statesman  of  his  enlarged  mind  that 
it  should  be  employed  on  subjects  of  great  and  enduring  moment — 
involving  not  only  the  welfare  and  prosperity  of  the  present,  but  the 
peace  and  security  of  the  future — and  not  wasted  or  its  force  weakened 
by  being  thrown  away  upon  matters  of  a  selfish  and  ephemeral  interest. 
It  does  not  appear  that  such  matters  ever  engaged  his  attention :  the 
movement  of  his  intellect  was  high,  and  all  his  purposes  were  elevated 
and  sincere. 

It  is  highly  creditable  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  that  their 
divisions  and  contests  among  themselves  have  been  upon  questions  of 
polity  deeply  affecting  their  political  and  material  interests,  and  that 
these  questions  after  examination,  discussion,  and  sometimes  violent 
agitation,  have  been  determined  generally  by  a  very  decided  weight 
of  public  opinion,  and  subsequently  acquiesced  in  generally.  A 
general  system  of  internal  improvements  by  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  at  one  time  found  favor  with  a  majority ;  but  on  a 
partial  experiment  its  abuses  were  so  monstrous  and  its  disastrous 
consequences  so  apparent,  that  after  a  fair  test  of  the  popular  sentiment 
it  was  abandoned. 

The  cause  of  the  measures  of  the  State  of  South  Carolina  just 
stated,  was  the  abuse  of  the  protective  system  which  bore  oppressively 
on  the  agricultural  interests,  to  which  the  schemes  of  internal  improve- 
ments furnished  aliment  by  requiring  large  disbursements  of  public 
money — raised  by  an  unjust  and  unequal  taxation,  and  expended  in  a 
manner  to  operate  on  the  worst  weakness  of  humanity  in  purchasing 
support.  The  power  of  the  protective  system  became  immense,  and 


52  EULOGY     ON 


by  a  combination  with  the  banking  interest,  which  controlled  the 
currency,  and  thereby  had  the  mastery  of  the  commercial  interest,  and 
connecting  itself  with  the  struggles  for  political  ascendancy,  there 
appeared  to  be  no  limits  to  its  dangerous  progress.  It  was  from  the 
hand  of  Mr.  CALHOUN  that  this  system  and  its  combinations  received 
their  death  blow.  It  was  he  who  aroused  public  attention  to  its 
enormities,  and  with  an  admirable  power  of  analysis  —  a  patience  and 
toil  which  a  sense  of  duty  to  his  country  alone  enabled  him  to  exert  — 
placed  before  the  people  the  abuses,  the  injustice  and  the  consequences 
of  the  system  in  all  its  complicated  effects.  The  subject  began  to  be 
understood;  it  attracted  the  attention  of  the  enlightened  and  reflecting 
to  its  obvious  results,  and  the  consequence  was  a  decided  change  in 
public  opinion  against  the  extremes  to  which  the  system  had  been 
pushed.  More  reasonable  counsels  prevailed,  and  public  opinion  has 
been  since  verging  to  the  opposite  extreme,  and  has  settled  down  in 
favor  of  the  liberal  policy  of  1846. 

The  financial  policy  of  the  Government,  dependent  on  the  receipt 
and  expenditure  of  the  public  revenue,  was  a  subject  of  still  greater 
moment,  as  it  regulated  the  currency  and  consequently  the  nominal 
value  of  every  species  of  property.  The  banking  system  was  one  of 
those  inheritances  we  received  from  the  mother  country,  and  the 
benefits  of  the  intimate  connection  and  dependence  of  the  operations 
of  the  Government  upon  it  were  taken  upon  trust,  and  viewed  as  a 
matter  of  political  necessity.  At  the  time  of  the  suspension  of  specie 
payments,  when  the  evils  and  dangers  of  the  connection  were  dis- 
closed, an  attempt  was  made  to  separate  the  affairs  of  the  Government 
from  all  connection  with  banks.  The  attempt  after  a  violent  struggle 
resulted  in  the  establishment  of  the  Independent  Treasury  system,  which 
has  fully  answered  all  the  purposes  of  Government.  At  that  time  the 
subject  was  little  understood  in  this  country  and  in  England.  The 
most  gross  errors  of  opinion  prevailed  among  enlightened  men  con- 
cerning the  necessity  and  policy  of  the  prevailing  system.  Mr. 
CALHOUN  —  far,  very  far  in  advance  of  public  opinion,  took  his  stand 
against  it,  and  with  a  foresight  and  sagacity  almost  unequalled,  demon- 
strated the  necessity  of  the  divorce  of  the  State  and  banks,  under  the 
fatal  consequences  of  which  the  country  was  then  suffering,  and  ex- 


JOHNC.     CALHOUN.  53 

plained  the  invaluable  advantages  of  the  plan  to  be  substituted  for  this 
unnatural  and  disastrous  alliance. 

Public  opinion  on  this  subject  was  completely  revolutionized,  and 
the  measures  and  views  of  financial  policy  then  entertained,  are  now 
looked  back  upon  with  wonder — as  the  delusions  of  the  day.  Mr. 
CALHOUN'S  views  of  policy  relating  to  the  financial  and  other  material 
interests  of  the  country  appear  to  comprehend  the  great  changes  which 
its  condition  has  since  undergone  with  the  increase  of  territory,  wealth, 
population,  and  its  progress  in  the  arts,  and  to  be  in  accordance  with 
the  exigencies  of  these  combined  elements.  These  views  were  pre- 
sented in  debate  with  masterly  force  of  argument  and  illustration. 

The  Ashburton  treaty  which  terminated  the  vexed  and  long 
pending  controversy  on  the  subject  of  the  North  Eastern  boundary, 
received  his  cordial  support;  and  on  that  occasion,  in  stating  his 
reasons  for  his  vote,  he  exhibited  in  their  strongest  light  his  modera- 
tion, his  accurate  acquaintance  with  the  subjects  embraced  in  the 
treaty,  and  his  patriotic  and  elevated  purposes.  He  did  not  insist  upon 
his  views  on  several  points,  and  voted  for  the  treaty  as  a  measure  of 
conciliation,  and  as  the  first  step  towards  a  durable  good  understanding 
and  peace.  On  all  the  important,  subjects  before  the  Senate  Mr. 
CALHOUN  took  a  leading  part  in  the  debate.  The  Bankrupt  Law, 
the  Public  Lands,  the  Veto-power  engaged  his  attention  and  called 
forth  his  best  exertions,  as  well  as  those  topics  directly  connected  with 
the  financial  and  general  policy  of  the  country. 

After  a  short  retirement  from  the  Senate,  he  was,  with  the 
unequivocal  approbation  of  the  Nation,  appointed  to  the  office  of  Secre- 
tary of  State.  With  reluctance  he  accepted  the  appointment,  which 
had  been  unanimously  confirmed  by  the  Senate  without  the  usual 
forms  observed  by  that  body.  The  condition  of  our  foreign  affairs 
required  the  services  of  a  statesman  of  great  experience  and  weight  of 
character,  and  Mr.  CALHOUN  carried  to  the  office  the  confidence  of  all. 
The  subject  of  the  annexation  of  Texas  was  then  pressing  upon  public 
attention,  and  the  time  had  come  when  it  was  necessary  for  the 
Government  to  act  definitively  upon  this  important  question.  The 
difficulties  which  it  presented  were  met  promptly  by  Mr.  CALHOUN, 
who  gave  such  a  direction  to  the  negotiation  that  Texas  became  one 


54  EULOGY     ON 


of  tke  United  States.  This  vast  addition  to  the  territory  of  the  United 
States  was  neither  sought  in  the  spirit  of  conquest  nor  obtained  for 
purposes  of  aggrandizement,  but  as  a  means  of  providing  for  the 
future  security  and  peace  of  the  Union.  It  was  a  measure  of  high 
public  policy,  the  advantages  of  which  were  not  so  apparent  at  the 
time  as  to  prevent  a  violent  opposition ;  but  on  a  mature  consideration 
of  the  relations  existing  between  this  country  and  Texas,  their  union 
was  evidently  little  short  of  a  necessity. 

The  accession  of  Mr.  Polk  to  the  Presidency  found  Mr.  CALHOUN 
again  in  private  life  ;  but  the  alarm  created  by  the  Oregon  question, 
called  him  from  his  retirement  to  place  him  once  more  in  that  body 
in  which  he  would  be  enabled  to  exercise  a  controlling  influence. 
His  opinions  were  known  to  be  eminently  pacific.  Familiar  with  the 
origin  of  the  question  and  the  different  unsuccessful  attempts  to  adjust 
it — ffom  his  recent  position  of  Secretary  of  State  possessing  all  the 
information  concerning  its  condition,  he  thought  it  involved  the  issues 
of  peace  or  war,  and  put  forth  his  unremitted  and  anxious  efforts  in 
the  Senate  for  its  adjustment. 

Mr.  CALHOUN  was  opposed  to  the  late  war  with  Mexico.  He 
was  essentially  a  man  of  peace,  and  looked  upon  war  as  in  direct 
conflict  with  our  policy,  and  detrimental  in  its  consequences  to  our 
institutions.  The  war  of  1812,  which  he  advocated  and  supported 
throughout,  he  considered  as  called  for  by  our  national  honor,  and 
necessary  to  our  national  independence.  Since  that  period  whenever 
he  took  any  part  in  our  relations  with  foreign  powers,  his  counsels 
were  marked  with  moderation  and  his  views  were  almost  exclusively 
pacific. 

We  are  thus  brought  near  the  close  of  the  career  of  this  great 
man,  who  for  a  period  of  almost  forty  years  had  been  before  the  public 
eye  in  conspicuous  public  situations,  in  the  midst  of  the  most  bitter 
conflict  of  parties,  and  in  active  connection  with  all  the  prominent 
events  of  our  history  during  that  time. 

At  the  time  of  the  decease  of  Mr.  CALHOTTN,  he  was  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  great  mass  of  opinion  in  the  Southern  States  in  relation 
to  their  rights  under  the  Federal  Constitution  respecting  Slavery, 
which  opinion  was  fortified  by  an  immense  support  in  other  parts  of 


JOHNC.     CALHOUN.  55 

the  Union  among  the  enlightened,  the  virtuous,  and  the  patriotic  of  all 
parties.  This  support,  though  not  manifested  on  all  occasions,  rested 
upon  strong  and  deliberate  views  of  both  duty  and  interest,  and  a 
sincere  attachment  to  our  institutions.  What  had  been  prophecy  in 
1836  on  the  part  of  CALHOUN,  became  fact  in  1849.  The  organized 
incendiary  movement  for  the  overthrow  of  the  fundamental  law  of  the 
Union,  with  its  orators,  preachers  and  presses,  had  accomplished  its 
great  purpose  on  its  way  to  distinction.  It  acquired  a  foothold  in 
Congress  under  the  insidious  mask  of  the  right  of  petition — a  right 
dear  to  those  whose  ancestors  had  fought  the  battle  of  civil  and 
religious  liberty  in  Europe.  An  indiscriminate  and  undue  respect  for 
that  right  had  led  to  abuses  of  the  most  scandalous  and  disreputable 
character,  and  resulted  in  open  attacks  on  the  integrity  of  the  Consti- 
tution itself.  At  the  outset  the  movement  seemed  to  be  confined  to 
well  meaning  persons  who  were,  or  thought  they  were  under  the 
influence  of  religious  impulses.  In  England  an  administration  for  the 
purpose  of  obtaining  the  votes  of  a  sect,  and  thereby  maintaining  its 
ascendancy,  had  spread  desolation  over  their  colonies  in  the  West 
Indies,  by  the  abolition  of  domestic  servitude.  Notwithstanding  the 
political  independence  which  the  United  States  attained  by  the  Revo- 
lution, a  social  dependence  to  a  certain  extent  still  exists  on  our  part. 
Literature,  the  arts,  commerce,  and  a  common  language,  combine  in 
keeping  up  the  dependence,  and  to  impose  on  us  not  only  the  conven- 
tial  and  social,  but  also  the  religious  conceits  which  break  out  in  the 
midst  of  that  artificial  state  of  society.  The  excitement  on  the  subject 
of  Slavery,  which  in  its  origin  was  confined  to  a  few,  and  was  therefore 
harmless,  soon  became  too  powerful  an  element  not  to  be  turned  to 
account,  and  its  progress  exhibits  one  of  the  most  marked  examples 
of  ignorance  and  profligate  demagogueism  which  the  history  of  civili- 
zation can  present.  It  was  fostered  in  order  to  be  used  in  the  contests 
of  numbers,  and  became  formidable  when  men  of  note  availed  them- 
selves of  it  as  the  means  of  their  success.  Many  fanned  the  kindling 
flame,  who  have  recoiled  from  the  consequent  conflagration.  Had 
the  feeling  been  met  at  the  commencement  with  the  energy  and  inde- 
pendence since  displayed  in  resisting  it,  it  would  have  been  kept  within 
its  circle  among  that  class  of  opinions  which  it  is  better  for  society  to 


56  EULOGYON 


tolerate  than  to  disturb,  and  would  have  been  impotent  in  affecting  the 
tranquility  of  the  country.  The  mass  of  the  people  of  the  non-slave 
holding  States  have  always  been  in  favor  of  the  compromises  of  the 
Constitution  in  their  integrity,  and  too  much  credit  cannot  be  given  to 
those  public  men  who  at  all  hazards  of  personal  influence  have  nobly 
exerted  themselves  in  sustaining  them,  and  in  staying  the  plague  which 
threatened  their  destruction.  If  the  guaranties  of  the  Constitution  are 
not  to  be  carried  out,  if  its  conservative  power  is  to  be  withdrawn 
from  any  portion  of  the  Union,  what  remains  for  the  protection  of  its 
citizens?  The  most  absolute  despotism  is  comparative  freedom  to 
their  condition.  If  there  is  a  higher  power  than  the  Constitution,  and 
this  power  is  the  conscience  of  a  class  of  persons  whom  the  accident 
of  an  election  may  elevate  to  authority,  we  have  merely  the  substitu- 
tion of  fanatic  and  unbridled  license  in  place  of  the  fundamental  law. 
Fanaticism  has  been  the  curse  of  our  race.  Its  history  fortunately  has 
been  written.  When  once  admitted  into  the  governing  power  of  a 
system  like  ours,  it  can  produce  little  else  than  tyranny  and  brutal 
violence,  and  must  necessarily  destroy  it.  To  resist  the  invasion  of 
our  institutions  on  their  outward  edge  by  this  element  of  danger,  is  a 
matter  of  self  preservation. 

Those  who  are  so  ready  at  all  times  to  impugn  the  motives  of 
the  advocates  of  State  rights,  ought  to  bear  in  mind  that  they  are  liable 
to  misunderstand  them.  An  extreme  sensitiveness  on  the  subject  of 
the  rights  of  the  States  has  its  date  in  the  origin  of  our  Government. 
In  the  States  whose  social  condition  offers  no  vulnerable  point  to  be 
affected  by  the  action  of  the  General  Government,  little  is  to  be  appre- 
hended from  its  interference,  and  less  from  its  adverse  action.  But  in 
the  States  where  the  condition  of  a  large  class  is  sought  to  be  dis- 
turbed, social  order  itself  is  liable  to  be  upturned  and  society  itself 
disorganized  by  a  departure  from  the  conservative  principles  of  the 
Constitution  :  an  active  and  self  protecting  vigilance  on  their  part 
ought  therefore  to  excite  neither  surprise  nor  distrust  among  just  and 
right  minded  men.  That  the  people  of  States  so  situated  should  be 
feelingly  alive  to  every  danger  of  this  sort,  and  use  every  precaution 
to  maintain  their  peace  and  security  by  preserving  their  political 
power,  would  seem  to  be  the  natural  consequences  of  their  position. 


JOHN     C.     CALHOUN.  57 


The  views  and  motives  of  a  people  whose  public  counsels  have  taken 
this  direction,  are  liable  not  to  be  appreciated  by  those  who  have 
known  the  General  Government  only  from  its  benefits,  and  have  no 
reason  to  fear  its  antagonism.  The  active  agency  taken  in  public 
affairs  by  men  of  education,  of  talent,  and  of  property  in  the  Southern 
States,  plainly  shows  that  the  rights  of  the  States  are  held  as  involving 
their  deepest  interests.  They  have  been  at  all  times  determined  that 
their  States  shall  maintain  their  due  and  proper  influence.  They  have 
manifested  this  determination  through  the  press,  their  legislative  bodies, 
in  Congress,  and  in  public  discussion.  The  ability  with  which  the 
cause  has  been  sustained,  and  the  devotion  and  disinterestedness  with 
which  it  has  been  upheld,  has  created  and  sustained  an  influence 
which  is  all  prevailing  among  the  people  of  those  States,  and  is  fortified 
by  the  concurrence  in  these  opinions  of  a  large  mass  of  citizens  of 
other  States. 

In  the  judgment  of  the  soundest  statesmen  of  this  Republic,  and 
of  a  large  majority  of  the  people,  the  preservation  of  the  Union  is  only 
to  be  maintained  by  the  confinement  of  the  powers  of  the  General 
Government  within  the  limits  of  the  Constitution. 

Those  who  have  read  the  history  of  the  contests  of  civil  liberty, 
must  see  that  safety  is  only  secured  by  the  vigilant  opposition  which 
every  assault  of  power  instantly  encounters  from  the  spirit  and  intelli- 
gence of  the  governed.  Instead  of  permitting  the  aggressions  of  power 
to  accumulate  and  acquire  such  a  hold  on  opinion  as  to  sanction  their 
continuance,  and  then  seeking  relief  in  public  resistance  and  civil  war, 
the  present  theory  of  free  government  is  to  resist  the  first  tendency  of 
power  towards  aggression  in  constitutional  rights,  and  thus  nip  the 
evil  in  the  bud.  The  policy  is  preventive  rather  than  remedial,  and 
commends  itself  to  the  plainest  understanding  of  man.  So  thought 
Mr.  CALHOUN,  and  on  this  principle  he  acted. 

When  Mr.  CALHOUN  in  the  midst  of  a  state  of  disquietude  and 
alarm,  which  he  had  for  a  long  time  foreseen  and  predicted,  made  his 
last  appeal  to  the  Senate  and  to  the  people  of  the  non-slave  holding 
States,  as  the  arbiters  of  the  future  security  of  the  Union,  he  was 
unable  to  declare  it  orally :  it  was  read  by  another  by  permission.  His 

i 


58  EULOGY     ON 


presence  in  his  visibly  declining  health,  gave  a  painful  interest  to  the 
imposing  scene.  His  discourse  had  been  dictated  by  him  in  a  physical 
condition  which  would  have  disabled  most  men  for  such  an  exertion ; 
but  the  feebleness  and  pains  of  body  did  not  impair  or  divert  the 
energies  of  the  soul  within  him.  He  only  saw  before  him  the  dangers 
which  beset  the  country  should  evil  measures  prevail,  and  without 
heed  of  his  personal  sufferings  or  the  risk  to  which  the  exciting  effort 
exposed  him,  he  abandoned  his  sick  bed  for  the  Senate,  and  gave  his 
last  advice  amidst  her  distracted  counsels — invoking  the  spirit  of  justice 
and  the  duties  of  patriotism  on  the  part  of  those  who  alone  held  the 
power  of  perpetuating  our  institutions  and  of  saving  the  Union.  He 
continued  his  presence  in  the  deliberations  of  the  Senate  for  a  few 
days,  notwithstanding  the  evident  sinking  of  his  physical  powers. 

The  difficulties  which  attended  all  attempts  of  an  adjustment  of 
the  pending  difficulties  he  was  fully  alive  to,  and  in  a  letter  to  a  friend 
written  a  few  days  previous  to  his  death,  he  thus  expresses  himself: 

"  This  may  be  the  last  of  my  communications  to  you.  I  feel 
"  myself  sinking  under  the  wasting  power  of  disease.  My  end  is 
"  probably  very  near.  Before  I  reach  it  I  have  but  one  serious  wish 
"  to  gratify  ;  it  is  to  see  my  country  quieted  under  some  arrangement, 
"  alas !  I  know  not  what,  which  will  be  satisfactory  to  all,  and  safe  to 
«  the  South." 

He  was  evidently  alarmed  at  what  he  considered  the  inevitable 
consequence  of  the  continued  agitation  of  the  Slavery  question.  He 
had  no  fear  that  disunion  would  be  effected  at  a  single  blow,  but 
thought  it  must  be  the  work  of  tune,  unless  its  fatal  causes  were 
arrested ;  that  the  chords  which  bound  the  States  together — political, 
social,  religious  and  moral,  would  ultimately  become  so  weakened  by 
injustice  and  offence,  that  they  would  cease  to  be  sufficiently  strong  to 
hold  the  Union  together.  It  was  under  these  deep  emotions  that  he 
traced  the  origin  of  this  disastrous  condition  to  which  the  body  politic 
was  verging,  and  made  his  last  effort  to  rouse  the  country  to  a  sense  of 
its  dangers,  and  of  the  necessity  of  justice  for  its  future  security. 

The  death  of  Mr.  CALHOUN  at  this  juncture  was  felt  as  a  national 
loss.  The  value  of  his  counsels  and  influence  was  then  appreciated, 
and  the  homage  paid  to  his  memory  in  both  Houses  of  Congress  by 


JOHNC.     CALHOUN.  59 


his  opponents,  as  well  as  by  his  friends,  bespoke  their  deep  conviction 
of  his  worth.  Nor  were  any  more  forward  in  doing  justice  to  the 
deceased  than  his  illustrious  rivals  in  the  career  of  glory,  whose  ser- 
vices we  are  now  commemorating  with  his  own. 

Notwithstanding  the  prominent  position  of  Mr.  CALHOUN,  his 
private  life  has  been  but  little  known.  The  close  attention  which  he 
always  gave  to  his  public  duties  and  the  labor  which  they  required, 
the  character  of  his  intellectual  pursuits,  and  his  habits  of  reflection 
and  study,  left  him  little  time  for  anything  else.  During  his  intervals 
of  leisure,  agriculture  and  the  management  of  his  estate  were  his 
amusement  as  well  as  his  occupation.  He  never  suffered  himself  to 
be  weaned  from  the  claims  of  home ;  and  his  duties  as  a  husband,  a 
father,  and  the  head  of  a  family,  were  fulfilled  in  a  manner  equally 
amiable  and  exemplary.  The  associations  of  affection  and  friendship 
which  clustered  round  the  circle  of  his  family,  he  kept  alive  and 
adorned  by  his  unreserved  and  kind  intercourse,  and  the  genial  influence 
of  his  well  stored  intelligence.  His  watchful  interest  in  those  whom 
Providence  had  committed  to  his  charge,  was  never  weakened  or  abated 
by  the  cares  of  public  life.  On  all  occasions  he  manifested  the  warmest 
interest  in  the  education  and  welfare  in  the  youth  of  the  country. 
Accessible  to  all,  attractive  in  his  manner,  his  society  was  eagerly 
sought  by  the  young,  and  few  left  him  without  some  agreeable  and 
useful  impression  :  he  lost  no  occasion  of  conveying  to  them  such  ideas 
as  would  tend  to  strengthen  their  purposes  of  good,  and  elevate  their 
views  of  duty.  He  was  always  pleased  when  an  opportunity  presented 
itself  of  holding  intercourse  with  young  men,  and  his  acquaintance  with 
the  studies  of  youth  gave  great  value  to  his  conversation,  which  was 
enhanced  by  the  kindest  manner  and  the  interest  he  seemed  to  take  in 
their  future  welfare.  Nor  was  this  appearance  delusive.  His  inter- 
course with  the  world  had  not  dried  up  the  deep  sympathies  of  his 
nature,  nor  diminished  his  feelings  of  benevolence  towards  his  fellow 
men. 

The  condition  and  admirable  order  of  his  farm,  and  the  regularity 
with  which  his  private  affairs  were  conducted,  were  the  result  of  only  a 
portion  of  his  leisure  during  his  retirement  from  public  business.  He 
sought  information  on  all  subjects  which  directly  interested  humanity. 


60  EULOGY     ON 


With  the  principles  of  mathematics  and  the  kindred  sciences  he  was 
familiar,  and  kept  up  his  knowledge  of  their  progress  and  new  appli- 
cations. His  favorite  studies  were  the  moral  and  political  sciences. 
He  knew  thoroughly  the  history  of  man  in  the  different  phases  of 
civilization  through  which  he  has  passed.  Every  thing  that  has  fallen 
from  him  is  replete  with  the  evidence  of  his  deep  reflection  on  the 
duties  and  relations  of  communities  and  of  the  citizens  to  the  State. 
His  well  directed  industry  and  economy  of  time  enabled  him  to  prepare 
in  the  latter  part  of  his  life  his  profound  and  elaborate  Treatise  on 
Government — the  result  of  his  meditations  and  enlarged  experience. 

The  fascination  of  Mr.  CALHOUN'S  colloquial  powers  all  have  felt 
who  have  enjoyed  the  advantage  of  listening  to  his  conversations. 
They  were  most  eloquent,  and  were  important  elements  of  his  in- 
fluence over  the  minds  of  men.  He  was  exceedingly  regular  and 
temperate  in  his  habits,  and  without  any  taste  for  ostentation  or  luxury. 
His  deportment  was  dignified  and  prepossessing,  at  the  same  time 
imposing.  A  strict  and  habitual  observer  of  the  proprieties  of  life  in 
all  his  relations,  public  and  private,  he  exhibited  in  himself  the  model 
of  a  Christian,  gentleman,  and  citizen. 

But  it  was  within  the  more  intimate  circle  of  his  personal  friends 
that  his  character  was  more  highly  appreciated.  His  candor,  his 
truth,  his  fidelity,  the  entire  absence  of  anything  approaching  indirec- 
tion or  concealment  in  his  social  relations,  as  well  as  the  kindness  of 
his  affections,  created  an  attachment  on  the  part  of  his  friends  which 
is  rarely  witnessed.  Its  force  has  been  manifested  a  thousand  times 
in  the  zeal  and  devotion  with  which  he  has  been  defended,  and  the 
steadfastness  with  which  on  all  occasions  their  sincerity  has  been 
maintained.  It  was  shown  during  Ids  illness  by  their  increasing 
anxiety,  and  at  his  death  by  their  heartfelt  and  profound  affliction, 
which  revives  with  every  incident  which  calls  up  the  memory  of  their 
departed  friend. 

-  It  is  evident  from  the  writings  and  speeches  of  Mr.  CALHOUN, 
that  he  had  studied  with  advantage  the  great  masters  of  ancient  elo- 
quence. He  appears  to  have  arrived  at  the  strength  and  breyity  of 
the  Greek  of  the  times  of  Thucydides  in  the  close  energy  of  his 
sentences  and  the  abrupt  rapidity  of  his  thoughts — sometimes  indulging 


JOHN     C.     CALHOTJN.  61 

in  the  more  copious  eloquence  which  was  the  improvement  of  the 
next  generation.  He  had  the  first  requisite  of  a  great  orator — he  was 
a  good  man,  and  his  character  stood  as  a  guaranty  for  the  truth  of 
what  he  said  and  of  the  sincerity  with  which  it  was  uttered.  •  In  the 
most  exciting  stages  of  debate  his  mode  of  argument  was  fair  and 
manly — never  losing  himself  in  confusion,  nor  seeking  to  embarass 
his  adversary  by  taking  any  undue  advantage.  Nothing  could  divert 
him  from  the  even  tenor  of  his  way — from  the  dignity  with  which  he 
always  bore  himself.  He  seemed  to  feel  an  unlimited  confidence  in 
his  own  powers,  and  to  speak  from  the  fullness  of  knowledge.  He 
treated  most  subjects  without  putting  forth  his  strength,  convincing 
his  hearers  by  what  he  said  of  the  store  which  he  held  in  reserve. 
But  on  the  great  questions  which  called  forth  the  exertion  of  all  his 
force,  the  resources  of  his  intellect,  his  admirable  exercise  of  the 
reasoning  faculty,  his  comprehensive  knowledge  of  political  science, 
never  failed  to  produce  an  effect  memorable  in  the  annals  of  Senatorial 
eloquence.  This  effect  was  by  no  means  confined  to  those  who 
entertained  his  opinions  or  who  advocated  the  same  cause  with  him ; 
those  who  differed  from  him  most — those  who  were,  as  it  were, 
alienated  from  him  by  adverse  sentiments — were  not  less  the  admirers 
of  his  talent,  and  proud  of  him  as  one  of  the  brilliant  lights  of  his 
country.  His  discourses  were  sustained  throughout  without  being 
formal  or  too  stately.  He  appeared  to  disdain  every  thing  like  mere 
ornament,  and  never  introduced  anything  in  his  speeches  which  did 
not  contribute  to  the  effect  of  the  whole.  He  took  no  pride  in 
overcoming  the  difficulty  of  a  moment  and  becoming  the  hero  of  an 
occasion,  and  little  interest  in  the  ephemeral  purposes  of  party.  His 
aim  was  higher — it  was  directed  with  a  single  view  to  the  great  interests 
of  the  country.  'He  never  descended  from  his  elevation  by  the  intro- 
duction of  anything  personal  or  trivial,  or  any  attempt  at  wit.'  At  all 
times  prepared  for  discussion  on  the  subjects  as  they  presented  them- 
selves for  consideration,  he  was  equally  prompt  and  ready  in  the 
defence  of  his  conduct  and  opinions.  On  occasions  of  this  sort  some 
of  his  most  successful  oratorical  efforts  were  made.  He  was  master 
of  the  weapons  of  satire  and  sarcasm,  which  he  seemed  to  forbear  to 
make  use  of  from  a  consciousness  of  his  strength,  and  never  employed, 


62  EULOOYON 


unless  the  necessity  of  the  controversy  called  for  them  for  his  self 
defence.  His  manner  was  grave  and  self-possessed,  vehement  and 
severe  at  times,  and  his  delivery  was  what  might  be  expected  from  a 
man  of  clear  head  and  sound  heart — full  of  his  subject  and  earnestly 
intent  on  his  purpose.  His  discourses,  though  they  were  the  result 
of  the  most  elaborate  reflection  and  study,  bore  none  of  the  ordinary 
marks  of  preparation.  His  subjects  were  not  treated  in  the  mode  or 
order  T>f  the  rhetorician,  but  his  power  of  analysis  and  description  was 
so  perfect  that  they  were  at  once  placed  in  so  striking  a  light  as  to 
need  no  further  illustration.  And  in  his  replies,  the  vulnerable  points 
of  his  adversary  were  often  made  so  apparent  by  his  simple  exposition 
of  them,  as  to  require  no  other  refutation.  In  this  respect  his  skill  was 
wonderful,  and  shewed  him  to  be  a  thorough  master  of  his  great  art. 
It  rendered  him  most  formidable  in  deliberative  assemblies,  and  gave 
him  a  controlling  power  over  all  subjects  under  discussion. 

Mr.  CALHOUN  was  through  life  the  opened  and  determined  foe 
of  corruption  and  of  every  thing  approaching  it,  whatever  phase  it 
might  assume — whether  in  power  or  out  of  power.  He  scorned 
indirection  and  intrigue.  Demagogueism  he  loathed.  He  had  no 
relish  for  the  applause  of  the  day,  and  no  sympathy  with  those  who 
seek  it — its  triumphs  had  no  attractions  for  him.  He  did  not  believe 
that  it  was  his  mission  to  watch  the  popular  gale  and  connect  himself 
with  the  conceits  which  are  thrown  up  on  the  surface  of  society,  but 
to  give  to  his  fellow  men  his  own  convictions  founded  on  the  lights  of 
his  own  judgment  and  the  dictates  of  his  own  conscience. 

Deeply  read  in  the  Scriptures,  he  manifested  on  all  proper  occa- 
sions a  profound  reverence  for  their  truth,  and  a  sense  of  religious 
obligation.  It  indeed  is  the  lot  of  few  men  to  possess  a  character  so 
complete  in  all  its  essential  points,  and  forming  so  perfect  a  whole. 

•  He  who  could  accomplish  so  much  as  Mr.  CALHOUX  has  done, 
must  have  been  no  ordinary  man.  His  success  in  any  one  of  the 
branches  of  his  career,  as  an  Administrator,  as  a  Statesman,  or  as  an 
Orator,  is  worthy  of  the  ambition  of  the  most  aspiring.  He  was 
exclusively  the  architect  of  his  own  fortune.  He  husbanded  the  scanty 
opportunities  for  improvement  of  his  early  youth,  and  by  study,  reflec- 
tion, and  self-training,  prepared  himself  for  his  future  eminence.  By 


JOHNC.     CALHOUN.  63 

his  own  exertions,  without  the  adventitious  aids  of  fortune  and  of 
patronage,  he  placed  himself  early  in  life  among  the  foremost  men  of 
this  land,  superior  to  many  in  some  respects — inferior  to  none. 

He  died  in  the  service  of  his  country,  in  Washington  City,  on 
the  31st  March,  1850,  leaving  a  glorious  fame  and  a  spotless  reputa- 
tion, and  only  regretting  that  he  was  no  longer  able  to  labor  in  assuring 
tranquility  to  the  State,  and  permanent  protection  to  our  institutions. 

He  had  for  sometime  been  conscious  of  his  approaching  end. 
He  preserved  his  faculties  and  his  composure  to  the  last.  His  death 
was  marked  by  those  characteristics  of  simplicity  and  unostentatious 
dignity  which  distinguished  his  life.  Amidst  a  scene  of  heart-rending 
grief  of  his  beloved  family  and  friends,  who  watched  his  death-bed  with 
the  intense  anxiety  of  devoted  affection,  he  closed  his  earthly  career 
with  the  calmness  and  resignation  of  a  Christian. 

He  has  left  behind  him  a  great  heritage  to  his  children — a  great 
example  to  his  country — a  name  renowned  in  her  annals  and  in  the 
history  of  free  institutions. 


-0 


EULOGIUM 

ON   THE   LIFE,    CHARACTER  AND   SERVICES   OF 

HENRY  CLAY, 

BY   THEODORE   H.    McCALEB. 

Delivered  in  the  Odd  Fellows'  Hall,  on  the  9th  of  December,  1852,  on  the  occasion  of  the  Funeral 

Obsequies  in  honor  of 
CALHOUN,    CLAY    AND    WEBSTER. 


The  solemn  spectacle,  fellow-citizens,  which  everywhere  meets 
the  eye,  is  one  of  profound  and  extraordinary  interest.  The  imposing 
Ceremonies  in  which  we  have  been  called  to  participate,  have  arrested 
the  attention  of  every  patriot,  and  awakened  the  tenderest  sensibilities 
of  every  heart.  A  day  has  been  set  apart  by  public  authority  and  by 
common  consent,  to  be  consecrated  to  national  sorrow.  Our  beautiful 
city  has  suddenly  paused  in  the  midst  of  her  wonted  gaiety,  to  clothe 
herself  in  the  garments  of  mourning.  Her  accustomed  song  of  joy 
and  revelry  is  hushed;  her  voice  of  sorrow  is  mingling  with  the 
funeral  strain ;  and  her  heart  all  saddened  and  subdued,  is  throbbing 
in  unison  with  the  muffled  drum,  as  it  beats  the  funeral  march  in  honor 
of  the  fallen  champions  of  the  Republic. 

While  we  contemplate  these  manifestations  of  public  mourning, 
this  temporary  cessation  of  the  ordinary  pursuits  of  life,  the  aspect  of 
silent  sadness  which  reigns  in  the  usually  active  and  crowded  scenes 
of  commercial  industry,  it  is  impossible  not  to  feel,  and  to  feel  deeply, 
how  weak  is  the  voice  of  eulogy,  how  powerless  is  all  human  effort  to 
give  an  adequate  expression  of  our  sorrows  for  the  loss  of  those,  to 
whose  memory  we  have  assembled  to  render  our  heartfelt  tribute  of 
affectionate  and  grateful  regard.  It  would  be  vain  therefore  for  me  to 
attempt  to  give  utterance  to  the  emotions  of  profound  humility  with 
which  I  appear  before  you,  your  delegated  organ,  to  perform  the 
melancholy  but  grateful  duty  assigned  me  on  this  interesting  occasion. 


66  EULOGY     ON 


Our  CALHOUN,  our  CLAY,  and  our  WEBSTER  are  no  more.  They 
are  all  gone.  One  by  one,  they  have  passed  from  the  great  theatre  of 
their  glory  and  renown.  The  places  which  once  knew  them,  will 
know  them  no  more  forever.  Almost  three  years  have  rolled  away 
since  the  Nation  was  called  to  deplore  the  loss  of  her  CALHOUN. 
Months  have  elapsed  since  she  followed  the  remains  of  her  CLAY  to 
the  chosen  spot  of  his  final  repose.  The  voice  of  Philosophy  had 
whispered  peace  to  her  troubled  spirit,  and  the  tumultuous  agitations 
of  grief  had  been  succeeded  by  the  holy  calm  of  resignation  to  the 
irresistible  decrees  of  the  Omnific  Word ;  but  her  great  heart  is  again 
pierced  by  the  dart  of  affliction,  and  her  voice  of  lamentation,  giving 
utterance  alike  to  her  past  and  present  grief,  is  once  more  heard  over 
the  lifeless  form  of  her  WEBSTER.  Like  the  fond  mother  who  has 
surrendered  one  by  one  all  her  loved  and  cherished  sons  to  the  cold 
embraces  of  the  grave,  who  recalls  over  her  last  departed  the  virtues  that 
adorned  them  all,  and  beholds  again  in  imagination  their  noble  forms, 
£s  when  side  by  side  they  watched  over  and  protected  her  with  the 
same  filial  devotion ;  she  yields  her  bleeding  heart  to  that  agony  of 
suffering  which  no  hope  can  assuage,  no  philosophy  can  soothe,  and 
pours  forth  her  accumulated  sorrows  over  their  common  tomb. 

And  now,  fellow-citizens,  while  the  venerated  names  of  CALHOUN 
and  WEBSTER  are,  upon  other  tongues, — the  themes  of  eulogy  and 
praise — it  becomes  my  pleasing  duty  to  present  to  your  grateful  con- 
templation a  brief  review  of  the  life,  character  and  services  of  HENRY 
CLAY. 

Brief,  indeed,  must  be  the  review  of  such  a  life,  of  such  a  character, 
and  of  such  services,  to  be  comprehended  within  the  limits  of  this 
occasion.  A  life  from  early  manhood  devoted  to  the  promotion  of 
the  happiness,  prosperity  and  glory  of  his  country ;  a  character  whose 
unsullied  purity,  moral  elevation  and  Olympic  grandeur,  have  become 
the  bright  exemplars  of  the  future  statesman ;  and  services,  which  in 
their  momentous  effects  and  consequences  are  to  be  felt  upon  the 
destinies  of  this  Republic  through  all  time,  might  well  be  regarded  as 
appropriate  subjects  to  be  left  to  emblazon  the  tomes  of  the  future 
historian.  It  is  not,  however,  for  the  purpose  of  imparting  knowledge 
upon  topics,  of  which  as  Americans  you  can  never  be  presumed  to  be 


HENRY     CLAY.  67 


ignorant,  that  in  a  passing  tribute  to  the  memory  of  the  illustrious 
dead,  we  advert  to  the  shining  qualities  that  adorned  his  character, 
or  glance  at  the  prominent  part  he  performed  in  the  grand  drama  of 
public  life.  We  seek  rather,  by  reviving  a  recollection  of  the  past,  to 
awaken  the  mind  to  a  full  and  solemn  sense  of  the  nature  and  extent 
of  the  national  bereavement,  and  by  recurring  to  the  glorious  examples 
that  have  gone  before  us,  to  enable  us  the  better  to  appreciate  the 
importance  of  the  obligations  we  are  called  upon  to  discharge.  As 
successors  to  the  rich  inheritance  of  constitutional  liberty  and  repub- 
lican glory  bequeathed  to  us  by  the  good  and  the  great  who  have 
gone  down  to  their  graves,  we  cannot  hope  to  preserve  that  inheritance 
and  transmit  it  unimpaired  to  posterity,  if  we  cease  to  venerate  the 
characters,  refuse  to  emulate  the  examples,  or  fail  to  observe  the 
precepts  of  those  from  whom  we  have  received  it. 

We  cannot  reflect  upon  the  solemn  and  heartfelt  manifestations 
of  public  grief  which  immediately  followed  the  death  of  Mr.  CLAY, 
without  feeling  that  his  highest,  his  noblest  eulogy  is  the  sorrow 
exhibited  by  his  countrymen  on  the  melancholy  occasion.  We  all 
felt  that  the  long  lingering  illness  of  the  venerable  patriot  had  gradually 
prepared  us  to  listen  with  calm  and  Christian  resignation  to  the  intelli- 
gence of  his  final  dissolution.  And  yet,  when  on  the  wings  of  the 
lightning  that  intelligence  was  conveyed  to  the  remotest  parts  of  the 
Republic,  we  well  remember  how  that  Republic  from  its  centre  to  its 
extremities  was  convulsed  by  the  shock  produced  by  the  sudden 
assurance  that  the  great  Statesman  was  no  more.  The  whole  Nation 
seemed  bowed  down  with  a  sense  of  its  irreparable  loss,  and  clothed 
itself  with  the  habiliments  of  mourning;  and  the  people  joined  with 
one  accord  in  rendering  funeral  honors  to  the  mighty  dead.  In  every 
city,  town  and  village  through  which  his  mortal  remains  were  borne 
on  their  way  to  their  final  resting  place,  the  mourning  thousands 
assembled  to  testify  their  affectionate  regards  for  his  memory.  Sorrow 
was  depicted  upon  every  countenance,  and  all  eyes  were  turned  to 
behold  the  bier  that  contained  the  last  of  him,  who  but  a  few  months 
before,  with  form  erect  and  eagle  eye,  had  moved  in  the  midst  of  his 
admiring  countrymen,  the  object  of  their  gratitude  and  love.  The 
swelling  tones  of  organs  pealing  among  clustered  columns,  and  along 


68  EULOOYON 


the  spacious  domes  of  lofty  cathedrals ;  the  measured  toll  of  funeral 
bells  resounding  from  the  spires  of  every  consecrated  fane  throughout 
the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land,  were  mingling  in  one  universal 
knell — one  solemn  dirge  over  the  Christian  patriot.  In  view  of  all 
which  then  occurred,  and  of  all  which  is  now  passing  before  us,  how 
forcibly  are  we  reminded  of  those  ebullitions  of  popular  grief  which 
we  are  told  by  Tacitus  were  exhibited  in  Rome  upon  the  announce- 
ment of  the  tidings  from  Syria,  of  the  death  of  Germanicus :  Ut,  ante 
edictum  magistratuum,  ante  Senatus-consultum,  sumpto  justitio,  desere- 
rentur  fora,  clauderentur  domus :  Passim  silentia  et  gemitus ;  nihil 
compositum  in  ostentationem  ;  et  quamquam  neque  insignibus  lugentium 
dbstinerent,  altius  animis  moerebant* 

Death  has  indeed  most  signally  exerted  its  customary  effect  upon 
the  public  estimate  of  the  character  and  services  of  our  departed 
Statesman.  It  has  augmented  the  veneration  for  his  memory,  in  pro- 
portion as  it  has  been  instrumental  in  diminishing  political  asperity 
and  prejudice,  and  in  silencing  the  senseless  clamors  of  party  malice. 
His  great  name  and  illustrious  services  are  upon  all  tongues.  Friend 
and  foe  are  united  in  rendering  homage  to  the  fame  of  the  noblest  of 
our  country's  benefactors.  All,  all  now  remember  the  Statesman  who 
stood  by  his  country  in  the  hour  of  her  thickest  gloom ;  whose  moral 
courage  and  resolution,  sustained  by  his  lofty  eloquence,  had  rendered 
him  equal  to  every  occasion — whether  an  effort  was  demanded  in 
support  of  a  great  measure  of  public  policy,  or  in  vindication  of  the 
rights  of  our  Republic  against  the  world.  They  remember  the  Patriot, 
whose  great  soul  at  all  times  and  in  every  emergency  embraced  his 
whole  country ;  whose  last  act  was  the  noblest  evidence  of  his  undying 
attachment  to  that  Union,  to  whose  best  interests,  to  whose  permanent 
preservation  his  whole  life  was  steadily  and  ardently  devoted.  They 
remember  the  MAN,  whose  name 

"No  act  of  base  dishonor  ever  blurred ;" 

the  man  who  walked  untouched  and  triumphant  through  the  fiery 
furnace  seven  times-heated,  of  detraction  and  persecution ;  the  man, 

*  Annali  b.  3d. 


HENRYCLAY.  69 


for  whose  foreordained  destruction,  there  were  those  who  paused  not  to 

Distort  the  truth,  accumulate  the  lie, 
And  pile  the  pyramid  of  calumny ; 

the  man,  who  single  handed  against  a  host,  had  fluttered  his  assailants 
"  like  an  eagle  in  a  dove  cote — alone  he  did  it ;"  who  stormed  the 
very  citadel  of  calumny,  and  planted  the  victorious  banner  of  Truth 
upon  its  walls  ;  the  man  who  was  ever  ready  to  compromise  upon  a 
measure  of  public  policy  affecting  the  security  of  the  union  of  these 
States ;  but  whose  chivalric  soul  ever  scorned  to  compromise  a  princi- 
ple, in  thought  or  deed,  whenever  his  own  honor  or  the  honor  of  his 
country  was  involved.  It  is  for  the  loss  of  such  a  Statesman,  such  a 
Patriot,  such  a  Political  Champion,  such  a  Civic  Hero,  that  a  grateful 
and  admiring  people  have  been  called  to  mourn.  All  political  animosi- 
ties are  forgotten,  or  buried  forever  in  his  honored  grave.  His 
eloquence,  his  patriotism,  the  incorruptible  purity  of  the  Man,  and  the 
comprehensive  wisdom  and  unerring  forecast  of  the  Statesman,  are 
alone  remembered.  In  the  language  of  Macauley  depicting  the 
sorrows  of  England  for  the  death  of  Lord  Chatham:  "  Detraction  is 
overawed.  The  voice  of  even  just  and  temperate  censure  is  mute. 
Nothing  is  remembered  but  the  lofty  genius,  the  unsullied  probity, 
the  undisputed  services  of  him,  who  is  no  more.  For  once  all  parties 
are  agreed." 

The  life  of  Mr.  CLAY  presents  a  striking  illustration  of  the 
superior  advantages  afforded  by  our  free  republican  institutions  for 
the  development  of  all  those  attributes  of  moral  and  intellectual  power 
which  constitute  the  truly  great  man.  It  demonstrates  the  efficacy  of 
that  noble  self-reliance  which  poised  upon  an  indomitable  will,  and 
disdaining  all  foreign  aid,  recoiling  from  no  shock  however  violent, 
and  dismayed  at  no  peril  however  appalling,  steadily  pursues  its  end, 
and  patiently  but  surely  works  out  the  salvation  and  triumph  of  its 
possessor. 

Mr.  CLAY  was  born  in  Hanover  County,  Virginia,  on  the  12th  of 
April,  1777,  nine  months  after  the  Declaration  of  Independence  ;  and 
it  may  therefore  be  truly  said  that  his  infancy  was  cradled  amid  the 
storms  of  the  Revolution.  The  first  lesson  taught  him  by  maternal 
affection  was  the  story  of  his  country's  suffering,  and  of  the  heroic 


70  BU LOGY     ON 


achievements  of  those  who  rose  in  vindication  of  her  rights  against 
the  oppressions  of  arbitrary  power.  At  five  years  of  age  he  was 
fatherless,  and  according  to  his  own  declaration,  contained  in  his 
memorable  reply  to  one  of  the  many  rude  and  malignant  attacks  of 
Mr.  Randolph,  "  inherited  from  his  father  nothing  but  indigence  and 
ignorance."  The  means  of  education  in  the  district  of  country  where 
he  was  born  were  extremely  limited,  and  confined  to  such  advantages 
as  were  usually  afforded  in  the  country  schools  of  that  period.  In 
one  of  these  he  acquired  the  mere  rudiments  of  an  English  education. 
In  1792,  through  the  kind  interposition  of  friends,  he  obtained  a  situa- 
tion in  the  office  of  the  Clerk  of  the  High  Court  of  Chancery  in 
Richmond,  where  at  the  age  of  fifteen  years, — an  age  when  the  youth 
of  more  favored  lands  were  gaining  an  introduction  to  the  pages  of 
Cicero  and  Virgil,  Xenophon  and  Homer,  the  future  Statesman  was 
toiling  for  a  daily  subsistence,  and  acquiring  a  practical  acquaintance 
with  the  technicalities  and  details  of  that  profession,  of  which  he  was 
destined  to  become  one  of  the  brightest  ornaments.  He  soon  attracted 
the  attention  of  the  learned  and  accomplished  Chancellor  Wythe,  by 
whom  he  was  employed  as  an  amanuensis,  and  of  whose  paternal 
advice  and  instruction  he  was  for  four  years  the  grateful  recipient. 
Through  the  intercession  of  his  venerable  friend,  he  was  admitted  into 
the  office  of  Robert  Brooke,  Esq.,  the  Attorney  General,  and  formerly 
Governor  of  Virginia.  He  there  acquired  a  sufficient  knowledge  of 
the  law,  to  enable  him  to  obtain  from  the  Judges  of  the  Court  of 
Appeals  of  his  native  State,  a  license  to  practice ;  and  one  year  after 
he  entered  the  office  of  Mr.  Brooke,  he  left  Richmond  for  the  West, 
and  established  himself  permanently  in  Lexington,  Kentucky.  Before 
leaving  Richmond,  however,  Mr.  CLAY  had  enjoyed  peculiar  advantages 
for  a  young  man  ambitious  of  distinction  in  his  profession.  He  had 
formed  the  acquaintance  of  almost  all  the  distinguished  Virginians  of 
that  period,  among  whom  may  be  mentioned  Edmond  Pendleton, 
Spencer  Roano,  Chief  Justice  Marshall,  Bushrod  Washington,  and 
Mr.  Wickham.  It  was  also  his  good  fortune  to  hear  on  two  occasions, 
that  unrivalled  champion  of  American  Independence,  Patrick  Henry, — 
once  before  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  District  of 
Virginia,  on  the  question  of  the  payment  of  the  British  debts ;  and 


HENRY     CLAY.  71 


again  in  the  House  of  Delegates  of  Virginia,  on  the  claims  of  the 
supernumerary  officers  in  the  service  of  the  State,  during  the  Revo- 
lutionary War.  Mr.  CLAY  retained  through  life  a  vivid  recollection 
of  the  appearance  and  manner  of  that  extraordinary  man.  The  im- 
pression of  his  eloquent  powers  on  his  mind  was,  "that  their  charm 
consisted  mainly  in  one  of  the  finest  voices  ever  heard,  in  his  graceful 
gesticulation,  and  the  variety  and  force  of  expression  exhibited  in  his 
countenance.*"  Those  who  have  listened  to  the  eloquence  of  Mr. 
CLAY,  will  remember  how  preeminently  he  was  distinguished  for  these 
very  characteristics  of  the  orator,  which  had  impressed  his  own  mind, 
as  prominent  ornaments  in  the  eloquence  of  his  renowned  exemplar. 
We  can  easily  imagine  the  effect  which  a  popular  or  forensic  effort  of 
such  a  man  as  Patrick  Henry,  would  produce  upon  such  a  mind  as 
Nature  had  given  to  young  CLAY.  We  can  easily  depict  in  our  imagi- 
nations the  beaming  countenance  of  the  youthful  auditor,  as  he  follows 
with  rapture  and  delight  the  daring  flights  of  an  orator  whose  fame 
he  was  even  then  resolved  to  emulate.  We  recall  the  picture  of  the 
young  Thucydides  listening  with  tearful  interest  to  the  beautiful  history 
of  Heroditus,  as  it  was  read  to  the  admiring  multitude  at  Olympia ; 
and  that  of  the  young  Demosthenes,  retiring  from  the  applauding 
throng,  upon  the  conclusion  of  an  oration  of  Callistratus,  to  meditate 
in  retirement  on  the  thrilling  scene  through  which  he  had  passed,  and 
under  the  influence  of  the  fire  of  inspiration  still  glowing  in  his  heart, 
to  renew  those  intellectual  toils  through  which  alone  he  too  might 
hope  to  win  that  popular  applause,  which  to  the  ear  of  young  ambition, 
is  sweeter  than  the  music  of  the  spheres. 

The  professional  success  of  Mr.  CLAY  in  his  adopted  State  far 
surpassed  his  fondest  hopes,  and  was  in  all  respects  such  as  might  be 
confidently  anticipated  from  his  previous  assiduity  and  exemplary 
conduct.  His  energetic  devotion  to  business,  his  superior  talents  as 
an  advocate,  and  his  honorable  bearing  as  a  man,  secured  for  him 
popular  favor  and  popular  confidence ;  and  the  young  and  friendless 
attorney  who  had  rejoiced  over  his  first  fee  of  fifteen  shillings,  soon 
found  himself  in  possession  of  a  lucrative  practice,  and  holding  a  high 

*  Life  of  Mr.  CLAY  by  Eppes  Sargent. 


72  EULOGY     ON 

rank  at  a  bar,  which  even  at  that  early  period  could  number  among 
its  members  such  men  as  George  Nicholas,  Joseph  Hamilton  Daviess, 
James  Hughs,  John  Breckenridge  and  William  Murray.  It  may  be 
mentioned  as  a  remarkable  fact  in  connection  with  his  career  as  an 
advocate,  that  he  was  successful  in  every  criminal  trial  for  a  capital 
offence  in  which  he  appeared  for  the  accused  party.  During  his 
whole  political  life  he  was  frequently  engaged  in  important  cases 
before  the  Courts  of  Kentucky,  and  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States.  No  member  of  the  American  bar  was  more  efficient 
in  the  presentation  of  the  merits  of  a  case  to  a  jury ;  while  the  many 
important  decisions  in  favor  of  his  clients,  from  the  highest  tribunal 
known  to  our  law,  upon  questions  of  great  public  importance,  and 
involving  principles  of  constitutional  law,  bear  ample  testimony  to  his 
professional  acumen,  his  profound  research,  and  his  thorough  mastery 
of  legal  principles.  We  have  the  authority  of  Mr.  Justice  Story  for 
saying,  that  as  a  jurist  of  extensive  attainments  and  profound  ability, 
Mr.  CLAY  was  regarded  by  Chief  Justice  Marshall, — the  highest 
authority  to  which  we  can  appeal — as  second  to  no  lawyer  in  this 
country. 

After  a  prosperous  and  distinguished  career  as  a  lawyer  and  local 
legislator  in  the  State,  among  whose  generous  and  gallant  sons  he  had 
cast  his  lot  for  life,  he  was  elected  to  a  seat  in  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  to  fill  a  vacancy  occasioned  by  the  resignation  of  the  Hon. 
John  Adair.  His  election  was  only  for  the  fraction  of  a  term  ;  but  we 
find  in  his  speeches,  and  in  the  resolutions  presented  by  him  during 
that  brief  period,  the  germ  of  that  great  system  of  Internal  Improve- 
ment, of  which  he  was  afterwards  the  ablest  and  most  eloquent  advocate. 
On  his  return  to  Kentucky,  he  was  again  elected  by  the  citizens  of 
Fayette  County  to  represent  them  in  the  Legislature  of  the  State,  and 
at  the  next  session  was  chosen  Speaker  of  the  Assembly.  He  how- 
ever participated  in  all  the  important  debates  which  arose  in  the  body 
of  which  he  was  the  presiding  officer,  and  continued  actively  and  with 
great  distinction  to  serve  the  State  as  one  of  her  local  representatives, 
until  1809,  when  he  was  again  elected  to  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States. 


as 

HENRYCLAY.  73 


It  would  be  impossible  fellow-citizens,  within  the  limits  of  this 
occasion,  to  notice  with  minuteness,  the  splendid  services  of  Mr.  CLAY. 
We  shall  therefore  glance  at  a  few  of  the  most  important  public 
measures,  and  the  most  prominent  political  events  in  the  history  of  the 
country,  with  which  his  name  has  been  intimately  associated. 

We  cannot,  as  Louisianians,  pass  unnoticed  his  zealous  exertions 
on  the  subject  of  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi;  his  able  and  eloquent 
assertion  of  the  rights  of  our  Government  to  the  district  of  country 
lying  between  the  Mississippi  and  Perdido  Rivers,  a  large  portion  of 
which  now  forms  a  part  of  our  own  State ;  his  active  participation  in 
the  proceedings  of  Congress,  which  enabled  Louisiana  to  form  a 
constitution,  and  to  gain  admission  into  the  Union  upon  an  equality 
with  the  other  members  of  the  Confederacy;  and  his  strenuous 
efforts  in  favor  of  the  maintenance  of  a  naval  force  in  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  for  the  protection  of  the  commerce  of  the  valley  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. These  are  services  which  create  a  local  interest  in  his  fame, 
and  which  acquire  an  increasing  importance  whenever  we  compare 
the  present  position  of  Louisiana  with  what  it  was  a  short  time  after 
she  passed  from  the  dominion  of  France  and  Spain,  to  form  one  in 
that  great  family  of  Independent  States,  whose  commerce  is  upon 
every  ocean,  and  whose  flag  is  upon  every  breeze. 

But  it  is  rather  as  citizens  of  the  Union,  that  we  love  to  dwell 
upon  the  services  of  Mr.  CLAY.  We  love  to  recur  to  that  dark  period 
in  our  history,  made  bright  and  glorious  by  American  valor  and 
American  genius ;  a  period  when  the  Republic  was  called  upon  to 
vindicate  her  honor  against  wrongs  committed  upon  her  commerce  by 
England  and  France,  under  the  Berlin  and  Milan  decrees,  and  the 
British  orders  in  council.  Under  the  pretext  of  prosecuting  legitimate 
hostilities  in  pursuance  of  these  retaliatory  measures,  the  most  atrocious 
depredations  were  committed  by  both  nations  upon  our  neutral  trade. 
And  while  France  was  induced  by  our  stern  remonstrances  to  abandon 
her  unjust  and  abominable  policy,  so  far  at  least  as  it  related  to 
American  vessels,  England  continued  to  persevere  in  her  course  of 
arrogance  and  oppression,  until  an  indignant  people  demanded  ven- 
geance for  her  unprovoked  hostilities  upon  the  property  of  our 

L 


74  EULOGY    ON 


merchants,  and  for  her  barbarous  impressment  of  our  mariners  while 
pursuing  their  peaceful  avocations  upon  the  highway  of  nations. 

This  important  crisis  in  our  affairs  occurred  in  1811,  during  the 
administration  of  Mr.  Madison.  Mr.  CLAY  was  then  a  member  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  and  had  been  elected  its  presiding  officer. 
The  mind  of  the  amiable  President  was  inclined  to  peace,  though  he 
afterwards  proved  firm,  when  his  resolution  was  once  taken.  A  pacific 
policy  was  also  recommended  by  Mr.  Gallatin,  then  at  the  head  of  the 
Treasury  Department.  Against  every  measure  tending  to  a  declara- 
tion of  hostilities,  were  arrayed  the  powerful  talents  of  Mr.  Randolph, 
of  Virginia,  and  Mr.  Quincy,  of  Massachusetts.  It  is  not  difficult, 
however,  to  imagine  what  would  be  the  conduct  of  Mr.  CLAY  in  such 
an  emergency.  Like  the  Antaeus  of  ancient  fable,  he  rose  with 
renewed  and  redoubled  vigor,  under  the  Herculean  pressure  of 
opposition  that  attempted  to  bear  him  to  the  earth.  He  was 
then  in  the  prime  of  life,  "  with  the  rose  of  heaven  upon  his 
cheek,  and  the  fire  of  liberty  in  his  eye."  He  saw  and  felt 
that  there  was  but  one  course  to  be  pursued  for  the  vindication 
of  the  insulted  honor  of  the  country,  and  for  a  prompt  and  effectual 
redress  of  her  accumulated  wrongs, — and  that  course  involved  a 
declaration  of  war.  He  advocated  the  embargo  laws,  because  the 
measure  was  a  direct  precursor  to  war;  he  advocated  the  increase  of 
the  Army  and  Navy,  and  every  other  measure  that  would  lead  to  the 
declaration  of  hostilities.  Side  by  side  with  Mr.  CALHOUN,  he  nobly 
sustained  the  honor  of  the  country.  High  above  their  compeers 
shone  these  two  young  and  gallant  champions  of  the  Republic — the 
Tancred  and  Rinaldo  of  political  chivalry.  The  conduct  of  Mr.  CLAY 
on  that  memorable  occasion  cannot  perhaps  be  better  described  than 
by  adopting  the  language  of  a  member  of  Congress,  who  was  a  per- 
sonal witness  of  the  effect  of  his  eloquence  upon  the  crowds  who  daily 
hung  upon  his  thrilling  accents.  "  On  this  occasion,"  said  he,  "  Mr. 
CLAY  was  a  flame  of  fire.  He  had  now  brought  Congress  to  the 
verge  of  what  he  conceived  a  war  for  liberty  and  honor,  and  his  voice 
rang  through  the  Capitol  like  a  trumpet-tone  sounding  for  the  onset. 
On  the  subject  of  the  policy  of  the  embargo,  his  eloquence  like  a 
Macedonian  phalanx  bore  down  all  opposition,  and  he  put  to  shame 


HENBYCLAY.  75 


those  of  his  opponents  who  flouted  the  Government  on  being  unpre- 
pared for  war." 

His  great  object  was  finally  accomplished.  War  was  declared. 
The  military  and  naval  resources  of  the  country  were  called  into 
requisition,  and  both  on  the  land  and  on  the  ocean,  the  honor  of  the 
country  was  gloriously  sustained. 

In  consequence  of  the  friendly  interposition  of  the  Emperor 
Alexander  of  Russia,  a  willingness  was  expressed  by  the  Ministry  of 
England  to  negotiate  with  our  Government  a  treaty  of  peace.  Mr. 
CLAY  and  Mr.  Russell  were  appointed  by  Mr.  Madison,  Commissioners 
for  this  purpose,  and  accordingly  Mr.  CLAY  on  the  19th  of  January, 
1814,  resigned  his  station  as  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
and  proceeded  on  his  mission  to  Ghent.  He  was  there  joined  by 
Messrs.  Adams,  Gallatin  and  Bayard,  who  had  left  St.  Petersburg  and 
repaired  to  the  place  appointed  for  the  meeting  of  the  Commissioners, 
for  the  purpose  of  aiding  in  the  arrangement  of  the  terms  of  peace. 
The  treaty  was  signed  in  December,  1814.  Afterwards  a  commercial 
convention,  highly  advantageous  to  the  trade  and  navigation  of  the 
country,  was  concluded  in  London,  by  three  of  the  Commissioners  of 
Ghent,  viz :  Messrs.  Adams,  CLAY  and  Gallatin. 

The  public  career  of  Mr.  CLAY  was  subsequently  distinguished  by 
the  able,  eloquent,  and  untiring  support  he  gave  to  the  cause  of  Internal 
Improvement,  and  to  the  protection  of  Domestic  Industry.  Let  the 
mere  sectional  politician  say  what  he  may,  these  great  measures  were 
absolutely  necessary,  to  enable  the  country  to  develop  with  rapidity 
her  great  natural  resources,  and  to  secure  her  independence  of  the 
manufactories  of  Europe.  Those  who  would  properly  appreciate  the 
services  of  Mr.  CLAY,  must  look  to  the  situation  of  the  country  while 
she  was  yet  young  and  in  a  comparatively  feeble  state  ;  and  not  to 
her  present  prosperous  position,  with  her  great  facilities  for  international 
communication,  and  for  prompt  and  rapid  transportation  from  State  to 
State  ;  nor  to  her  splendid  manufactories,  which  are  soon  destined  not 
only  to  rival,  but  to  surpass'  establishments  of  the  same  character  in 
the  Old  World.  Nor  should  we  limit  our  enquiry  to  the  condition  of 
the  country  in  time  of  peace;  but  we  should  view  the  subject  as  the 
great  Statesman  himself  was  accustomed  to  view  it,  with  reference  to 


76  EULOGY     ON 


the  contingency  of  war,  and  to  those  calamities  which  war  must 
inevitably  entail  upon  every  great  commercial  nation.  What  would 
be  the  condition  of  our  country  without  manufactures,  and  without  the 
facilities  of  transportation  from  one  part  of  the  Union  to  the  other,  for 
cannon  and  other  munitions  of  war,  while  the  fleets  of  a  powerful 
enemy  are  sweeping  the  ocean,  and  prowling  along  our  coasts?  The 
policy  of  Mr.  CLAY  demanded  the  aid  of  Government,  for  the  prose- 
cution of  what  individual  resources  and  individual  energy  in  the  earlier 
period  of  our  history  were  inadequate  to  accomplish.  He  aimed  at 
the  security  of  our  commercial  independence,  and  of  our  internal 
prosperity,  at  all  times,  and  in  every  emergency. 

With  the  zeal  and  energy  displayed  by  our  great  champion  of 
Universal  Liberty,  in  the  cause  of  South  American  and  Grecian  Inde- 
pendence, you  are  all  familiar.  His  speech  in  support  of  his  proposition 
to  send  a  minister  to  the  United  Provinces  of  the  Rio  de  La  Plata,  is 
one  of  the  ablest  and.  most  elaborate  arguments  which  emanated  from 
the  illustrious  Statesman  during  his  whole  public  career.  It  is  full  of 
historical  information  and  statistical  details,  and  evinces  by  its  laborious 
research,  the  deep,  heartfelt  anxiety  of  its  author  to  secure  for  the 
colonies  the  encouragement  of  our  own  Government,  in  the  establish- 
ment of  that  political  independence  for  which  they  were  nobly  con- 
tending. His  speech  in  support  of  Mr.  WEBSTER'S  proposition  to 
send  a  commissioner  to  Greece,  is  a  short  but  gallant  appeal  in  behalf 
of  a  people,  in  whose  favor  the  sympathies  of  every  humane  heart  would 
be  naturally  and  most  warmly  enlisted.  There  cannot  be  presented  to 
the  imagination  of  a  true  friend  of  liberty,  a  spectacle  more  grand  and 
imposing  than  was  exhibited  in  the  Congress  of  our  Republic,  when 
CLAY  and  WEBSTER,  the  great  Orators  of  America,  stood  forth  the 
undaunted  advocates  of  the  restoration  of  freedom  to  the  land  of 
Pericles  and  Demosthenes. 

The  exertions  of  Mr.  CLAY  in  behalf  of  both  South  America  and 
Greece,  were  zealously  continued  during  the  time  he  was  at  the  head 
of  the  Department  of  State  under  the  administration  of  Mr.  Adams; 
and  with  what  success,  we  shall  presently  have  occasion  to  notice. 

As  a  diplomatist  his  abilities  were  displayed  to  the  greatest 
advantage.  In  the  negotiations  which  led  to  the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  he 


HENRYCLAT.  77 


wielded  "the  pen  of  a  ready  writer;"  while  his  excellent  judgment, 
great  prudence  and  practical  intelligence,  rendered  him  at  all  times  an 
efficient  coadjutor  and  a  safe  councillor  of  his  distinguished  associates 
in  the  commission.  He  not  only  aided  in  bringing  to  an  honorable 
close  the  war  of  1812,  but  subsequently  also,  in  conjunction  with 
Messrs.  Adams  and  Gallatin,  as  we  have  already  seen,  in  securing  by 
the  Commercial  Convention  signed  in  London,  on  the  3d  of  July, 
1815,  those  reciprocal  advantages  for  our  commerce  and  navigation, 
which  proved  to  be  so  effectual  in  enabling  our  enterprising  mer- 
chants to  recover  from  the  paralyzing  consequences  of  the  war.  His  easy 
and  conciliatory  deportment,  his  perfect  freedom  from  all  duplicity, 
and  from  that  mysterious,  enigmatical  style  of  conducting  diplomatic 
conferences,  once  so  common  at  the  different  courts  of  Europe,  gained 
for  him  the  respect  and  confidence  of  the  English  negotiators. 

The  prudence  and  wisdom  of  Mr.  Madison  were  never  more 
happily  displayed  than  in  the  appointment  of  the  members  of  the 
Commission  to  adjust  our  difficulties  with  Great  Britain.  There  was 
Adams,  learned  on  all  subjects,  and  fortified  by  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  international  law ;  there  was  Gallatin,  ready  in  all  financial  details, 
and  familiar  with  the  commerce  of  the  globe ;  and  there  was  CLAY, 
bearing  the  reputation  of  an  orator  of  rare  abilities,  quick  to  discover 
an  advantage,  and  prompt  in  turning  it  to  the  interest  of  his  cause, 
ever  active,  ever  vigilant,  looking  alike  to  the  present  honor  and  ulti- 
mate prosperity  of  the  country.  Such  an  array  of  talent  and  ability  . 
could  not  fail  to  exert  a  favorable  impression  on  the  diplomatists  of 
the  proud  and  haughty  nation  before  whom  the  rights  of  our  young 
Republic  were  to  be  vindicated,  and  her  high  character  maintained. 
It  formed  an  appropriate  sequel  to  the  gallant  exploits  of  our  Army 
and  Navy.  England  learned  for  the  first  time,  that  she  was  neither 
the  mistress  of  the  ocean,  nor  the  undisputed  arbiter  of  nations  ;  that 
we  not  only  possessed  a  power  to  check  her  progress  upon  the  land 
and  upon  the  ocean,  but  also  a  moral  and  intellectual  ability  to  teach 
her  the  great  and  immutable  principles  of  international  justice. 

It  has  been  truly  said  that  the  diplomacy  of  our  country  was 
never  more  efficiently  conducted  than  during  the  time  our  foreign 
relations  were  committed  to  Mr.  CLAY.  The  number  of  treaties  he 


78  EULOGY     ON 


negotiated  while  at  the  head  of  the  Department  of  State,  was  greater 
than  all  that  had  been  previously  concluded  there,  from  the  adoption 
of  the  Constitution.*  He  concluded  and  signed  treaties  with  Colombia 
and  Central  America,  with  Denmark,  Prussia  and  the  Hanseatic 
League.  He  also  effected  a  negotiation  with  Russia  for  the  settlement 
of  the  claims  of  American  citizens,  and  concluded  a  treaty  with 
Austria,  but  left  the  Department  before  it  was  signed.  His  letters  to 
Mr.  Gallatin,  while  the  latter  was  our  Minister  at  London,  upon  the 
subject  of  our  trade  with  the  British  colonies,  and  the  navigation  of 
the  St.  Lawrence,  have  ever  been  regarded  as  documents  of  rare  value 
in  the  history  of  our  negotiations,  and  have  deservedly  placed  the 
writer  among  the  most  accomplished  diplomatists  of  the  age.  Another 
State  paper,  which  has  probably  gained  him  more  reputation  than  all 
others  which  have  emanated  from  his  pen,  is  his  letter  of  instructions 
to  the  Delegation  to  the  Congress  of  Panama.  But  that  which  will  in 
all  time  secure  to  his  memory  the  veneration  of  every  ardent  lover  of 
liberty,  is  his  successful  appeal  to  the  Emperor  of  Russia,  through  our 
Minister  at  St.  Petersburg,  (Mr.  Middleton,)  to  contribute  his  exertions 
towards  terminating  the  war  which  was  then  raging  between  Spain 
and  her  South  American  colonies.  He  was  equally  successful  in 
obtaining  the  acquiescence  of  the  same  great  power  in  the  recognition 
of  the  independence  of  Greece.  His  strenuous  exertions  while  he  was 
Secretary  of  State,  in  connection  with  the  noble  efforts  previously 
made  by  himself  and  Mr.  WEBSTER,  upon  the  proposition  of  the  latter 
to  send  a  commissioner  to  Greece,  were  mainly  instrumental  in  exciting 
the  sympathies  of  Europe  in  favor  of  the  struggling  people  of  that 
ancient  home  of  freedom ;  and  in  securing  to  them  a  recognition  of 
those  constitutional  guaranties  for  the  protection  of  their  rights  under 
a  limited  monarchy,  for  which  they  had  long  contended.  And  now, 
in  the  musical  strains  of  Whittier : 

The  Grecian  as  he  feeds  his  flocks 
In  Tempo's  vale,  on  Morea's  rocks, 
Or  where  the  gleam  of  brieht  blue  waters 
Ig  caught  by  Scio's  white  armed  daughters, 
While  dwelling  on  the  dubious  strife 
Which  ushered  in  his  nation's  life, 
8hall  mingle  in  his  grateful  lay 
Bozzaris  with  the  name  of  CLAY. 

*  Lifr  of  Mr.  CLAY  by  Kppei  Sargent 


HENRYCLAY.  79 


It  is  a  remarkable  fact  in  connection  with  these  distinguished 
diplomatic  services  of  Mr.  CLAY,  that,  at  the  very  time  he  was  devoting 
his  best  energies  to  the  advancement  of  the  honor  and  glory  of  his 
country,  and  to  the  cause  of  human  liberty  in  other  portions  of  the 
globe,  he  was  at  home  the  object  of  a  malignant  persecution,  which 
has  had  no  parallel  in  the  history  of  political  or  party  warfare.  We 
know  indeed  that  the  charge  which  was  urged  against  him,  has  long 
since,  in  the  language  of  his  great  compeer,  who  has  so  soon  followed 
him  to  the  grave,  "  sunk  into  the  general  mass  of  stale  and  loathed 
calumnies ;"  that  it  is  now  regarded  as  "  the  very  cast  off  slough  of  a 
polluted  and  shameless  press ;"  and  being  "  incapable  of  further  mis- 
chief, it  lies  in  the  sewer,  lifeless  and  despised."  And  while  we  thank 
God  that  no  one  would  if  he  could,  we  thank  Him  still  more,  that  no 
one  could  if  he  would,  "  give  it  dignity  or  decency,  by  attempting  to 
elevate  it,  or  to  change  it  from  what  it  is,  an  object  of  general  disgust 
and  scorn.  On  the  contrary,  the  contact  if  he  choose  to  touch  it,  is 
more  likely  to  drag  him  down,  down  to  the  place  where  it  lies  itself." 
And  we  do  not  on  this  occasion,  when  all  are  united  in  rendering 
homage  to  the  virtues  of  the  mighty  dead,  allude  to  it  with  any  design 
of  reviving  unpleasant  recollections  of  the  past,  but  for  the  sole  purpose 
of  presenting  in  a  clearer  and  bolder  light  the  unconquerable  spirit  of 
the  man,  who  never  quailed  before  the  envenomed  darts  of  detraction ; 
who  never  bowed  his  majestic  form,  nor  vailed  his  lofty  plume  to  the 
arrogance  of  power. 

Mr.  CLAY,  fellow  citizens,  was  in  the  highest  and  broadest  accepta- 
tion of  the  term,  an  American  Statesman.  With  the  sentiments  of  the 
mere  local  or  party  politician  he  had  no  sympathies  in  common.  His 
views  of  every  great  measure  of  public  policy,  were  always  compre- 
hensive, always  national.  He  regarded  the  members  of  the  Confederacy 
as  constituent  parts  of  one  great  whole ;  and  he  felt,  therefore,  that 
whatever  contributed  to  promote  the  interests  of  a  part,  would,  in  its 
ultimate  effects  and  consequences,  redound  to  the  benefit  of  the  whole. 
That  carping,  narrow-minded  jealousy,  which  feels  itself  called  upon 
to  resist  every  measure  of  Government  apparently  designed  for  the 
benefit  of  a  particular  locality,  found  no  countenance  or  support  from 
Mr.  CLAY.  It  is  the  easiest  of  all  things  to  be  a  sectional  or  party 
a 


80  EULOGY     ON 


politician ;  it  is  the  most  difficult  of  all,  to  rise  to  the  dignity  and  inde- 
pendence of  a  statesman.  With  the  former  the  primary  object  is 
victory ;  and  it  is  a  matter  of  minor  importance  what  prinoiple  may 
be  sacrificed  in  obtaining  it.  To  the  latter  victory  brings  no  laurels, 
but  when  it  heralds  the  triumph  of  principle.  How  few,  how  very  few 
are  willing  to  withhold  from  party  what  is  due  to  their  country.  How 
many  think  of  their  country  only  when  the  triumph  of  party  has  been 
secured.  No  man  struggled  more  manfully  for  the  success  of  his 
party  than  Mr.  CLAY  ;  but  how  easily  could  he  surrender  it  and  sacri- 
fice it,  and  every  thing  that  appertained  to  it,  and  even  himself, 
whenever  it  became  necessary  to  protect  the  Union,  or  to  ward  off  a 
blow  which  political  assassins  were  aiming  at  the  Constitution.  For 
such  an  occasion,  come  when  it  might,  the  great  Patriot  was  always 
ready,  and  always  equal  to  the  demands  of  his  country.  It  was  then 
that  he  knew  no  friends,  no  party,  but  the  friends  and  the  party  who 
were  arrayed  in  defence  of  the  Constitution  and  the  Union.  It  was 
then,  that 

"  Among  the  mightiest,  bent  on  highest  deeds," 

we  found  him  always  prepared  to  act  under  the  influence  of  those 
"sublime  emotions  of  a  patriotism,  which  soaring  towards  heaven, 
rises  far  above  all  mean,  low  and  selfish  things,  and  is  absorbed  by  one 
soul-transporting  thought  of  the  good  and  the  glory  of  one's  country ; 
that  patriotism,  which  catching  its  inspirations  from  the  immortal  God, 
and  leaving  at  an  immeasurable  distance  below  all  lesser,  grovelling, 
personal  interests  and  feelings,  animates  and  prompts  to  deeds  of  self- 
sacrifice,  of  valor,  of  devotion,  and  of  death  itself."*  It  was  then, 
fellow-citizens,  that  he  "  WOULD  RATHEE  BE  RIGHT,  THAN  TO  BE  PRESI- 
DENT." It  was  then,  that  official  power,  however  acceptable  otherwise 
to  a  generous  ambition,  however  gratifying  to  the  pride  of  an  old 
soldier  of  a  hundred  battles,  as  an  evidence  of  his  country's  confidence, 
and  as  a  forerunner  of  an  honorable  discharge,  lost  all  its  charms,  and 
sank  into  utter  insignificance.  For  what  allurements  had  power  how- 
ever exalted,  for  the  generous,  high-souled  patriot,  when  it  could  no 
longer  be  associated  with  the  honor,  the  greatness  and  glory  of  his 
country  ? 

"Mr.  CLAY'S  Speech  on  the  Veto  Power. 


HENRY     CLAY.  81 


As  an  Orator,  Mr.  CLAY  has,  by  common  consent,  long  been 
regarded  as  the  first  on  the  roll  of  great  names  in  our  country.  His 
eloquence  was  in  perfect  unison  with  his  general  character.  It  was 
bold,  ardent,  and  impassioned  ;  and  when  prompted  by  great  excite- 
ment, gushed  like  a  torrent  from  the  heart.  The  very  fountains  of 
his  soul  seemed  to  be  broken  up,  and  amid  the  rush  of  tumultuous 
emotions,  he  was  utterly  unconscious  of  the  external  world.  With  an 
easy  flow  of  language  that  never  failed  him ;  with  a  voice  ever  under 
the  most  perfect  control,  and  attuned  to  the  sweetest  harmony,  now 
rising  like  the  full  tones  of  an  organ,  "  till  sound  seemed  piled  upon 
sound,"  and  now  falling  into  the  softest  melody, — no  orator  perhaps 
ever  exercised  a  more  commanding  and  entrancing  influence  over  the 
feelings  of  an  audience.  There  was  an  awful  grandeur  in  his 
denunciation,  before  which  the  coldest  and  most  philosophical  opponent 
stood  appalled ;  but  in  his  pathetic  appeals  to  the  passions,  there  was 
a  charm  which  never  failed  to  awaken  the  tenderest  sensibilities 
of  the  human  heart.  His  speeches  on  the  subject  of  the  war,  are 
striking  examples  of  these  qualities.  He  was  an  enemy  to  all  sophis- 
try. As  a  logician,  he  was  clear,  cogent,  and  profound.  He  was 
laborious  in  his  researches,  and  rarely  engaged  in  debate  upon  a 
great  measure  of  public  interest  without  being  fortified  by  an  accumu- 
lation of  facts,  which  the  dispassionate,  unprejudiced  mind  found 
it  difficult  to  resist.  Many  of  his  best  efforts  have  never  been  pub- 
lished, and  are  now  irretrievably  lost.  His  speech  on  the  Missouri 
Compromise,  like  that  of  Mr.  Pinkney  on  the  same  subject,  has  never 
been  given  to  the  public  in  a  form  to  enable  his  countrymen  to  judge 
of  the  effect  of  that  appeal,  which  originally  secured  for  him  the 
proud  appellation  of  the  Great  Pacificator.  But  even  if  we  possessed 
all  that  is  lost,  we  should  still  feel,  as  we  hung  over  the  glowing 
pages,  that  there  was  yet  wanting  something  to  complete  the  charm  ; 
something  which  the  inimitable  manner,  and  the  musical,  clarion-toned 
voice  of  the  orator  himself  could  alone  supply.  We  should  be 
reminded,  at  every  step  of  our  progress,  of  the  story  of  the  celebrated 
/Eschines,  while  a  teacher  of  Rhetoric  at  Rhodes.  In  response  to  the 
enthusiastic  plaudits  of  his  students  upon  hearing  him  read  the  oration 
of  Demosthenes  upon  the  Crown,  the  generous  rival  and  antagonist  of 


82  EULOGY     ON 


that  great  orator  exclaimed :  "  What  would  have  been  your  applause 
could  you  have  heard  it  from  Demosthenes  himself?"  Those  who 
heard,  can  surely  never  forget,  the  peroration  of  Mr.  CLAY'S  speech  in 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States  on  the  Expunging  Resolutions.  He 
flamed  in  his  lofty  attitude  of  defiance  like  a  burning  seraph,  while 
every  bolt  which  he  hurled  amid  peals  of  thunder  upon  his  opponents, 
seemed 

"bright 
With  nn  immortal's  vengeance.'' 

The  sword  of  his  indignation  like  that 

"  Of  Michael  from  the  armory  of  God, 

Was  given  him  tempered  BO,  that  neither  keen 

Nor  solid,  might  resist  that  edge." 

The  character  of  Mr.  CLAY  will  serve  as  a  pattern  of  intellectual 
and  moral  excellence  worthy  of  the  imitation  of  all  who  may  aspire  to 
public  honors — the  mirror  before  which  they  may  array  themselves 
for  the  conflicts  of  public  life.  His  untarnished  honor,  his  lofty  pride, 
his  dauntless  courage,  his  never  failing  self-reliance,  his  deep  sense  of 
moral  obligation,  his  incorruptible  integrity,  his  "  delicate  sensibilities 
exalted  into  sublime  virtues,"  his  magic  eloquence  and  comprehensive 
wisdom,  all  so  harmoniously  blended,  contributed  to  form  an  Ameri- 
can, to  whom  all  Americans  in  all  coming  time  may  turn  with  admiration 
and  gratitude. 

England  in  the  reign  of  her  good  Queen  Anne,  was  wont  to 
point  to  her  Bolingbroke,  as  the  "  Beacon  of  English  Statesmen."  If 
great  sagacity,  the  most  untiring  physical  energy,  great  mental  endow- 
ments, combined  with  irresistible  eloquence,  could  justify  his  claims  to 
the  enviable  title,  posterity  may  never  withhold  it.  But  where  in  his 
character,  as  history  has  portrayed  it,  do  we  find  those  great  moral 
qualities  which  preeminently  distinguished  tho  public  career  of  our 
American  Orator  and  Patriot  ? — qualities  which  will  enable  the  coun- 
trymen of  the  latter  to  point  to  his  glorious  example,  as  a  Pharos  to 
the  statesmen  of  the  world. 

In  forming  its  estimate  of  human  greatness,  the  mind  is  ever 
inclined  to  resort  to  comparisons.  In  fixing  the  rank  or  position  of  a 
truly  great  man,  in  modern  times,  we  naturally  recur  to  the  past,  in 


HENRYCLAY.  83 


order  to  determine  how  far  he  approximates  to  those  examples  which 
history  holds  up  to  our  admiration,  and  which  have  long  since  received 
the  favorable  verdict  of  posterity.  If  a  commander  with  the  wreath 
of  laurel  upon  his  brow,  stands  prominently  before  the  world,  we 
inquire  how  he  will  compare  with  an  Alexander,  a  Hannibal,  or  a 
Cassar.  If  an  orator  become  the  object  of  popular  admiration,  and  give 
evidence  of  those  great  powers  of  eloquence  which  ever  have  been  and 
ever  will  be  regarded  as  the  noblest  gifts  of  Heaven,  we  associate  him 
with  those  masters  of  his  art  whose  names  have  come  down  to  us 
from  renowned  antiquity.  So  also  do  the  mighty  ministers,  who,  in 
different  ages  of  the  world,  have  successfully  guided  the  destinies  of 
their  country,  still  stand  as  the  grand  criteria  of  modern  statesman- 
ship ;  and  our  test  of  present  greatness  is  still  a  comparison  with  the 
past.  Apply  this  test  to  the  illustrious  man  whose  character  and 
services  are  now  the  subject  of  consideration,  and  we  will  find,  that  in 
no  age  of  the  world  can  we  designate  an  example  of  a  great  statesman 
or  orator,  with  which  his  own  life  will  not  afford  us  a  favorable  com- 
parison ;  and  there  is  no  extraordinary  event  or  occasion  in  history 
which  demanded  the  exercise  of  great  mental  and  moral  endowments, 
in  which  we  cannot  readily  imagine  that  he,  had  he  been  cotempo- 
raneous  with  the  event,  and  locally  affected  by  its  influence,  would  not 
have  been  a  prominent  actor.  He  possessed  the  very  qualities  to 
render  him  conspicuous,  and  to  cause  him  to  be  designated  among 
thousands,  as  the  man  to  determine,  to  lead,  or  to  guide  in  the  hour  of 
difficulty  or  danger,  or  whenever  and  wherever  the  great  cause  of 
civil  liberty  might  demand  the  aid  of  an  eloquent  and  invincible  cham- 
pion. With  him,  who  "  wielded  at  will  the  fierce  democratic  of 
Athens,"  he  would  have  hurled  defiance  at  the  power  of  Philip  and 
his  successors ;  and  all  the  gold  of  Macedonia,  Susa  and  Ecbatana, 
would  never  have  abated  one  jot  of  his  loyalty  to  the  Republic.  With 
the  great  Roman  orator,  he  would  have  resisted  the  growing  power  of 
the  Dictator ;  and  neither  the  flattering  offers  of  favor  from  the  usurper 
himself,  nor  the  persecutions  of  the  arbitrary  triumvirate  which  suc- 
ceeded, would  ever  have  drawn  him  off,  or  driven  him  from  the 
defence  of  the  liberties  of  his  country.  With  Tacitus  and  the  younger 
Pliny,  he  would  have  poured  out  his  indignation  before  the  Senate  of 

^ 


84  EULOOYON 


Rome  against  the  robberies  and  cruelties  committed  by  the  proconsul 
of  Africa.  With  the  former,  he  would  have  arraigned  before  the 
justice  of  the  world  every  act  of  oppression,  whether  it  emanated  from 
a  commander  at  the  head  of  his  conquering  legions,  or  resulted  from 
the  execution  of  the  mandates  of  imperial  power.  If  he  could  have 
been  thrown  in  the  midst  of  modern  revolutions,  who  does  not  feel 
that  his  eloquence  would  have  animated,  his  courage  have  confirmed, 
his  wisdom  have  guided  the  devoted  apostles  of  Truth.  He  would 
have  added  strength  to  the  energies  of  the  boldest,  and  imparted  a 
more  glowing  zeal  to  their  efforts  in  the  cause  of  civil  and  religious 
freedom ;  and  all  the  edicts  that  ever  emanated  from  the  indignation 
of  thrones,  would  never  have  arrested  him  in  the  prosecution  of  his 
purpose ;  all  the  thunders  that  were  ever  forged  in  the  furnaces  of 
despotism  would  never  ,have  silenced  his  counter  thunders,  until 
"  the  banner  of  Liberty  was  abroad  upon  the  mountains  in  its  first 
loveliness,  and  the  assaults  of  tyranny  could  no  longer  prevail  against 
it."  With  John  Hampden,  he  would  have  resisted  step  by  step  every 
attempt  to  subvert  the  rights  of  the  citizen,  every  encroachment  upon 
the  privileges  of  Parliament ;  and  with  him  he  would  have  charged  the 
squadrons  of  the  fiery  Rupert.  Contemplate  him  in  imagination, 
amid  the  storms  of  the  American  Revolution — not  as  he  really  was,  an 
infant  Hercules  in  his  cradle, — but  in  the  full  possession  of  those  intel- 
lectual and  moral  energies  which  in  the  maturity  of  manhood  he 
displayed ;  and  who  does  not  believe  that  he  would  have  stood  in  the 
van  with  the  noblest  of  the  champions  of  Independence,  and  have 
"  felt  the  great  arm  of  Washington  lean  on  him  for  support."  In  any 
age  of  the  world,  the  great  abilities  and  high  personal  qualities  of  our 
departed  patriot,  would  have  rendered  him  illustrious,  and  equal  to  the 
exigencies  of  any  cause  his  generous  soul  would  have  prompted  him 
to  espouse. 

Although,  fellow-citizens,  it  was  the  lot  of  Mr.  CLAY  never  to 
reach  the  summit  of  his  ambition;  although  he  was  never  called  by  his 
countrymen  to  fill  the  higlfest  political  station  within  their  gift,  what 
generous  and  enlightened  mind  within  the  whole  range  of  the  Republic, 
can  feel  that  mere  official  power  or  authority,  however  elevated,  could 
add  one  cubit  to  the  statue  of  his  great  fame  ?  Do  we  not  find  in 


HENRY     CLAY.  85 


this  instance  of  popular  injustice,  rather  an  augmentation  than  a 
diminution  of  the  glory  that  encircles  his  name  ?  Did  the  refusal  of 
the  Emperor  Tiberius  to  grant  the  triumph  demanded  by  Dolabella 
for  his  conquests  in  Africa,  detract  from,  or  add  to,  the  glory  of  his 
achievements  ?  The  accomplished  historian  has,  with  characteristic 
brevity  and  energy,  given  us  the  answer:  Huic  negatus  honor  gloriam 
intendit* 

Let  not  the  honors  we  render  this  day  to  the  memory  of  our 
departed  patriot,  cease  with  the  ceremonies  of  this  solemn  occasion. 
There  are  yet  others  in  reserve,  which  it  becomes  us,  fellow -citizens, 
in  common  with  our  countrymen  throughout  the  Union,  to  award,  in 
commemoration  of  his  illustrious  services.  Let  us  rear  aloft  the  marble 
monument  to  his  memory.  Let  us  present  to  our  own  generation, 
and  to  those  who  are  destined  soon  to  fill  the  places  which  we  now 
occupy,  his  beloved  and  venerable  form,  as  an  object  of  eternal  grati- 
tude and  regard.  Let  us  behold  him  still  erect,  as  we  were  wont 
to  view  him  in  life,  while  he  stood  forth  the  dauntless  champion 
of  his  Country's  rights,  and  the  watchful  guardian  of  her  Constitution. 
Let  us  behold  him  as  the  plastic  hand  of  an  American  Republican 
Artist  only  can  present  him  to  our  admiring  gaze.  Let  the  fame 
of  the  Statesman  and  the  Artist  thus  become  blended  in  the  remem- 
brance of  posterity.  Let  the  name  of  HIRAM  POWERS  be  associated 
with  that  of  HENRY  CLAY,  through  all  time,  like  the  name  of 
Flaxman  with  that  of  Nelson;  like  the  name  of  Michael  Angelo 
with  that  of  Lorenzo  de  Medici ;  like  the  name  of  Lysippus  with  that 
of  Alexander ;  like  the  name  of  Phidias  with  that  of  his  Olympian 
Jove.  And  when,  hereafter,  the  shapeless  block  of  marble  torn  from 
the  classic  quarries  of  Carrara,  shall  take  its  place  upon  the  easel,  let 
the  artist  remember,  that  no  naval  hero,  however  glorious ;  no  mag- 
nificent patron  of  letters  and  arts,  with  the  commerce  of  nations 
tributary  to  his  sway ;  no  conqueror  of  the  world,  with  his  invincible 
phalanx  at  his  heels  ;  no  Pagan  god  with  all  his  Olympian  thunders, 
ever  formed  a  nobler  subject  for  the  inspiration  of  the  sculptor's  genius, 
than  the  peerless  Orator,  the  incorruptible  Statesman,  the  self-sacrificing 
Patriot  of  his  own  mountain  land. 

*  Tacitus. 


86  EULOGY     ON 


Fellow-citizens,  our  CALHOUN,  our  CLAY,  and  our  WEBSTER  are 
no  more.  Their  great  spirits  are  fled,  and  their  once  towering  forms 
are  now  alike  the  lowly  tenants  of  the  tomb.  They  live  no  longer  to 
guide  us  by  their  counsels,  nor  to  animate  us  to  the  performance 
of  good  deeds,  by  the  fervor  and  firmness  of  their  patriotism.  Who 
now  shall  stand  where  they  have  stood  ?  Who  now  shall  lead 
where  they  have  led?  Who  now  shall  think  for  our  country  as 
they  have  thought,  or  speak  as  they  have  spoken  ?  Who  now  shall 
rush  to  the  rescue  of  the  Constitution  in  the  hour  of  peril?  Who  now 
shall  rise  as  the  bulwarks  of  the  Union  when  fiery  fanatics  and  pre- 
sumptuous demagogues  shall  assail  it  ?  Sad  indeed  are  the  emotions 
of  our  hearts,  as  we  contemplate  the  melancholy  bereavement  which 
our  country  has  sustained.  But  let  us  never,  never,  fellow-citizens, 
despair  of  the  Republic.  Though  our  revered  patriots  are  gone,  they 
yet  speak  to  us  in  "  voices  from  the  tomb  sweeter  than  song."  They 
speak  to  us  in  their  immortal  precepts.  They  live  in  the  light  of  their 
ever  glorious  examples.  By  those  precepts,  and  by  that  light,  let  all 
who  may  hereafter  be  called  to  the  service  of  the  country,  be  guided 
and  governed.  While  we  know  that  we  can  never  hope  to  equal  in 
renown  our  departed  patriots,  we  may  at  least  emulate  their  virtues, 
and  follow  in  the  "  track  of  their  fiery  car."  Let  us  remember, 
that  the  more  closely  and  diligently  we  pursue  the  high  path  of  glory 
trod  by  them,  the  more  faithfully  we  shall  discharge  our  sacred  obli- 
gations to  our  country.  Let  us  remember  that  there  are  duties  which 
devolve  upon  the  humble  as  well  as  the  exalted  ;  and  that  in  every 
condition  it  is  honorable  to  serve  our  native  land.  And  while  we 
contemplate  that  unapproachable  sphere  of  intellectual  glory  in  which 
our  departed  Statesmen  and  Orators  revolved,  we  should  not  only  feel 
and  act  in  accordance  with  the  sentiment  of  Cicero  :  Tamen  est  puL- 
chrum  in  gecundis  tertiisque  consislere  ;*  but  we  may  also  derive  conso- 
lation from  the  noble  admonition  of  Quintilian  :  Quin  animo  si  hanc 
cogitationem  kominet  habuissent,  ut  nemo  se  melioremfore  eo,  qui  optimus 
fuisset,  arbitraretur,  hi  ipsi,  qui  sunt  optimi  nonfuissent.  Verum 

ut  transeundi  spes  non  fit,  magna  tanem  cst  dignitas  subsequendi.\    Our 

*  DC  Oratore.  N.  4.  tOrat  lost.  lib.  12. 


HENRY     CLAY.  87 


path  along  the  future  is  radiant  with  the  light  of  past  glory.  Let  that 
glory  forever  blaze  in  the  ascendant,  and  no  obstacles  however  great, 
no  dangers  however  appalling,  shall  arrest  our  triumphant  progress. 
Our  great  Republic  is  on  her  march  to  a  higher  and  still  more  brilliant 
destiny.  She  is  preparing  to  put  forth  anew  her  giant  energies  in  the 
great  cause  of  human  liberty  and  human  happiness. 

"Hope  elevates,  and  joy 
Brightens  her  crest." 

The  memory  of  her  mighty  dead  ;  her  lofty  attitude  in  the  eyes 
of  the  world;  the  resplendent  hopes  of  the  future,  all  animate  her  to 
the  execution  of  her  high  commission  —  and  her  cry  is,  ONWARD, 
ONWARD,  FOREVER! 


V 


A  DISCOURSE 

UPON   THE   LIFE,    CHARACTER  AND   SERVICES    OF 

DANIEL  WEBSTER, 

BY  CHRISTIAN  ROSELIUS. 

Delivered  in  the  Rev.  Dr.  Scott's  Church,  on  the  9th  of  December,  1852,  on  the  occasion  of  the 
Funeral  Obsequies  in  honor  of  CALHOUN,  CLAY  and  WEBSTEB. 


We  have  assembled  in  this  sacred  temple,  fellow-citizens,  to  pay 
our  feeble  tribute  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  DANIEL  WEBSTER,  and 
to  mingle  our  sorrow  with  that  of  the  whole  Nation  for  the  bereave- 
ment occasioned  by  his  death.  During  a  period  of  nearly  half  a 
century,  this  eminent  citizen  occupied  a  prominent  position  in  the 
councils  of  the  Republic,  and  was  always  the  watchful,  able,  fearless 
and  successful  champion  of  free  institutions  and  true  constitutional 
liberty,  not  only  in  his  own  country,  but  throughout  the  world.  He 
stamped  the  impress  of  his  mighty  mind  on  the  age  in  which  he  lived. 
He  gave  an  impulse  and  direction  to  the  astounding  and  almost 
miraculous  development  of  the  resources  of  the  whole  country,  whether 
agricultural,  commercial  or  manufacturing.  His  patriotism  was  lofty, 
ardent  and  unalloyed  by  any  mean  or  selfish  motives.  As  a  States- 
man, he  was  actuated  by  liberal  and  comprehensive  views,  never 
resorting  to  mere  expedients  for  the  purpose  of  temporising,  or  of 
avoiding  official  responsibility.  As  a  Jurist,  he  stood  preeminent,  not 
only  at  the  American  Bar,  but  his  opinions  are  quoted  as  authority, 
and  command  respect  in  the  Courts  of  Westminster,  as  well  as  in  the 
Halls  of  St.  Stephen's ;  and,  as  an  Orator,  he  has  enriched  the  lan- 
guage with  undying  eloquence. 

That  the  death  of  such  a  man  should  produce  a  profound 
sensation  on  the  public  mind,  could  not  but  be  expected.  It  is 
indeed  a  public  loss,  and  a  cause  of  public  mourning.  How  strikingly 


90  EULOGY    ON 


appropriate  is  the  impressive  language  which  fell  from  his  eloquent 
lips  twenty-six  years  ago,  when  pronouncing  the  eulogy  of  two 
of  the  great  founders  of  the  Republic,  who  died  on  the  fiftieth 
anniversary  of  its  independence  :  "  He  is  no  more.  He  is  dead.  But 
how  little  is  there  of  the  great  and  good  which  can  die.  To  their 
country  they  yet  live,  and  live  forever.  They  live  in  all  that  perpetuates 
the  remembrance  of  men  on  earth ;  in  the  recorded  proof  of  their 
own  great  actions,  in  the  offspring  of  their  intellect,  in  the  deep 
engraven  lines  of  public  gratitude,  and  in  the  respect  and  homage  of 
mankind.  They  live  in  their  example ;  and  they  live  emphatically, 
and  will  live  in  the  influence  which  their  lives  and  efforts,  their  princi- 
ples and  opinions  now  exercise,  and  will  continue  to  exercise  on  the 
affairs  of  men,  not  only  in  their  own  country,  but  throughout  the  civilized 
world.  A  superior  and  commanding  human  intellect,  a  truly  great 
man,  when  Heaven  vouchsafes  so  rare  a  gift,  is  not  a  temporary  flame, 
burning  brightly  for  a  while,  and  then  giving  place  to  returning  dark- 
ness. It  is  rather  a  spark  of  fervent  heat,  as  well  as  radiant  light,  with 
power  to  enkindle  the  common  mass  of  human  mind,  so  that  when  it 
glimmers  in  its  own  decay  and  finally  goes  out  in  death,  no  night 
follows,  but  it  leaves  the  world  all  light,  all  on  fire,  from  the  potent 
contact  of  its  own  spirit.  Bacon  died  ;  but  the  human  understanding, 
roused  by  the  touch  of  his  miraculous  wand  to  a  perception  of  the 
true  philosophy,  and  the  just  mode  of  inquiring  after  truth,  has  kept 
on  its  course  successfully  and  gloriously.  Newton  died ;  yet  the 
course  of  the  spheres  are  still  known,  and  they  yet  move  on  by  the 
laws  which  he  discovered,  and  in  the  orbits  which  he  saw  and  described 
for  them  in  the  infinity  of  space." 

Yes,  fellow  citizens,  though  the  tomb  has  closed  over  all  that  was 
mortal  of  DANIEL  WEBSTER,  yet  his  spirit  lives  and  is  among  us :  it 
lives  in  the  great  deeds  performed  for  the  good  of  his  country ; — it 
lives  in  the  lessons  of  wisdom  which  his  immortal  works  teach  us  so 
eloquently; — it  lives  in  the  bright  example  of  virtue  and  patriotism 
which  he  has  bequeathed  to  us.  May  his  great  deeds  be  ever  held  in 
sacred  remembrance ;  and  may  his  example  be  ever  kept  before  the 
eyes  of  the  American  people  as  an  incentive  to  those  noble  virtues 
which  his  whole  life  illustrated. 


DANIEL     WEBSTER.  91 

The  lives,  characters  and  services  of  such  men  as  WEBSTER, 
CLAY  and  CALHOUN,  are  identified  with  the  history  of  their  country. 
When  the  future  historian  shall  give  an  account  of  the  wonderful  pro- 
gress and  magnificent  career  of  the  United  States,  during  the  period 
these  great  men  exercised  their  influence  on  the  destiny  of  the  Nation, 
they  will  stand  out  in  bold  relief  from  the  historic  canvass,  and  their 
conduct  and  actions  will  be  weighed  in  the  scales  of  even-handed 
justice.  All  that  can  be  attempted  on  this  occasion  is,  to  trace  a  faint 
and  imperfect  outline  of  the  principal  incidents  in  the  life  of  the  illus- 
trious dead  who  is  the  special  subject  of  this  discourse. 

DANIEL  WEBSTER  was  born  on  the  18th  January,  1782,  the  last 
year  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  at  Salisbury,  in  the  State  of  New 
Hampshire.  His  father  was  a  man  of  great  vigor  of  mind,  and  of  a 
striking  personal  appearance.  "  He  belonged  to  that  intrepid  border 
race  which  lined  the  whole  frontier  of  the  Anglo  American  colonies ; 
by  turns  farmers,  huntsmen  and  soldiers,  and  passing  their  lives  in  one 
long  struggle  with  the  hardships  of  an  infant  settlement,  on  the  skirts 
of  a  primeval  forest."  His  mother,  "  like  the  mothers  of  so  many  men 
of  eminence,  was  a  woman  of  more  than  ordinary  intellect,  and  pos- 
sessed a  force  of  character  which  was  felt  throughout  the  humble  circle 
in  which  she  moved.  She  was  proud  of  her  sons,  and  ambitious  that 
they  should  excel.  Her  anticipations  went  beyond  the  narrow  sphere 
in  which  their  lot  seemed  to  be  cast,  and  the  distinction  attained  by 
both,  and  especially  by  DANIEL,  may  be  traced  in  part  to  her  early 
promptings  and  judicious  guidance."  From  his  earliest  youth  he 
manifested  great  eagerness  for  learning  ;  but  although  education  had 
been  encouraged  and  fostered  in  the  New  England  States  from  their 
first  settlement,  still  the  teachers  in  those  days  were  not  always  the 
most  competent  to  impart  solid  and  extensive  instruction  to  their 
scholars.  Young  WEBSTER,  however,  availed  himself  as  far  as  possible 
of  the  limited  means  of  education  which  were  placed  within  his  reach. 
On  account  of  his  father's  narrow  circumstances,  the  thought  of  enjoy- 
ing the  advantages  of  a  collegiate  education  had  never  occurred  to 
him,  until  his  father  informed  him  of  his  intention,  at  the  age  of  fifteen. 
"  I  remember,"  says  Mr.  WEBSTER,  in  an  autobiographical  memoran- 
dum of  his  boyhood,  "  the  very  hill  which  we  were  ascending,  through 


92  EULOGYON 


deep  snows  in  a  New  England  sleigh,  when  my  father  made  known 
his  purpose  to  me.  I  could  not  speak.  How  could  he,  I  thought, 
•with  so  large  a  family,  and  in  such  narrow  circumstances,  think  of 
incurring  so  great  an  expense  for  me  ?  A  warm  glow  ran  all  over  me, 
and  I  laid  my  head  on  my  father's  shoulder  and  wept."  He  entered 
Dartmouth  College  in  1797.  During  his  collegiate  course,  which  he 
completed  in  1801,  he  gave  sure  indications  of  his  future  eminence. 
On  leaving  College,  he  selected  law  as  a  profession,  a  science  whose 
vast  and  comprehensive  range,  acute  distinctions  and  logical  structure, 
are  remarkably  adapted  to  call  forth  the  latent  powers  of  the  mind. 
Though  he  had  to  struggle  with  difficulties  and  to  overcome  obstacles 
which  the  straightened  means  of  his  parents  threw  in  his  way,  he  did 
not  despair,  but  met  the  emergency  like  a  man  determined  to  succeed. 
To  enable  himself  to  complete  his  own  professional  education,  and  to 
assist  his  brother  through  College,  he  took  charge,  for  a  short  time, 
of  an  academy  at  Fryeburg,  in  Maine,  and  acted  as  assistant  to  the 
Register  of  Deeds  of  the  County.  His  biographer  justly  observes, 
"  that  trials,  hardships  and  efforts  constitute  no  small  part  of  the 
discipline  by  which  a  great  character  is  formed."  Under  all  these 
discouragements  and  difficulties,  Mr.  WEBSTER  laid  the  foundation  of 
that  eminence  in  his  profession  which  justly  entitled  him  to  the  proud 
distinction  of  being  the  greatest  Lawyer  of  his  day.  He  made  himself 
thoroughly  acquainted  with  every  branch  of  jurisprudence.  Taking 
at  the  very  outset,  an  enlarged  and  liberal  view  of  the  science,  his  acute 
and  discriminating  mind  perceived  at  once  that  law  is  not  composed 
of  a  collection  of  heterogeneous  and  incongruous  rules,  dictated  by  the 
whim  and  caprice  of  the  law-maker ;  but  that  it  is  a  beautiful  and 
harmonious  system,  devised  by  the  profoundest  wisdom  and  foresight, 
to  regulate  the  multifarious  rights  and  obligations  arising  from  the 
complex  relations  of  social  life,  and  founded  on  the  great  and  immuta- 
ble principles  of  right  and  wrong  inscribed  on  the  mind  of  man  by  the 
hand  of  his  Creator.  Hence  he  did  not  content  himself  with  the 
perusal  of  the  ordinary  black-letter  text  books  which  are  usually  put 
into  the  hands  of  law-students,  some  of  which,  when  read  exclusively, 
are  but  too  apt  to  contract,  instead  of  enlarging  the  mental  vision ;  but 
he  enriched  and  invigorated  his  intellectual  faculties  by  the  careful 


DANIEL     WEBSTER.  93 

study  of  the  Book  of  Books,  as  well  as  the  writings  of  the  ancient  and 
modern  classics.  Such  were  the  preparations  with  which  Mr.  WEB- 
STER embarked  on  the  voyage  of  active,  busy  life.  He  was  admitted 
to  the  Bar  in  May,  1807,  and  in  September  following  he  settled  in 
Portsmouth,  where  he  remained  in  the  practice  of  the  law  for  nine 
successive  years. 

His  political  career  commenced  in  May,  1813,  by  his  taking  his 
seat  as  a  member  of  Congress  from  his  native  State.  Since  that 
period,  he  has,  with  short  intervals,  performed  an  active  part  on  the 
great  theatre  of  public  life.  To  follow  him  step  by  step  through  those 
busy,  varied,  and  often  spirit-stirring  scenes,  would  far  exceed  the 
limits  of  this  address. 

In  whatever  point  of  view  Mr.  WEBSTER'S  character  is  considered, 
we  discover  in  it  every  element  of  true  greatness  and  goodness.  One 
of  his  distinguishing  characteristics  was,  that  while  he  was  gifted  with 
a  towering  intellect  to  direct  his  thoughts,  he  possessed  a  warm  and 
generous  heart  to  give  a  proper  impulse  to  his  feelings. 

From  the  very  beginning  of  his  political  life  he  was  a  Statesman, 
in  the  true  sense  of  the  word  ;  his  conduct  was  always  governed  by 
piinciples,  to  which  he  steadily  adhered  through  good  and  evil  report. 
The  politician  trims  his  sail  to  catch  the  popular  breeze ;  but  the 
statesman  is  frequently  compelled  to  face  the  storm  of  popular  opinion, 
at  the  risk  of  his  own  political  existence.  Mr.  WEBSTER  was  often 
exposed  to  this  peril,  and  never  shrank  from  it.  As  early  as  1806,  he 
took  part  in  the  discussion  of  the  momentous  question  which  then 
agitated  the  Nation,  whether  our  commerce  should  be  actively  pro- 
tected, or  whether  the  suicidal  embargo  and  gun-boat  policy  should  be 
persisted  in.  The  tide  of  public  opinion  at  that  time  ran  strong  in 
favor  of  the  latter,  but  that  did  not  deter  him  from  giving  utterance  to 
these  statesman-like  views  :  "  Nothing  is  plainer  than  this  :  if  we  will 
have  commerce,  we  must  protect  it.  This  country  is  commercial  as 
well  as  agricultural.  Indissoluble  bonds  connect  him  who  ploughs 
the  land  with  him  who  ploughs  the  sea.  Nature  has  placed  us  in  a 
situation  favorable  to  commercial  pursuits,  and  no  government  can 
alter  the  destination.  Habits  formed  by  two  centuries,  are  not  to  be 
changed.  An  immense  portion  of  our  property  is  on  the  waves.  Sixty 


94  E  U  I,  O  G  Y     O  N 


or  eighty  thousand  of  our  most  useful  citizens  are  there,  and  are 
entitled  to  such  protection  from  the  Government  as  their  case  requires." 

Such  was  the  state  of  public  opposition,  that  the  argument  of  the 
youthful  patriot  remained  unheeded,  until  our  commerce  had  been 
almost  entirely  swept  from  the  ocean.  The  policy  of  the  Government 
was  not  changed  until  eight  years  afterwards.  He  reverted  to  the 
subject  in  an  oration  delivered  in  1812;  and  in  1814,  he  again  made  a 
powerful  appeal  for  the  protection  of  our  commerce,  in  one  of  his 
first  speeches  delivered  in  Congress.  "  Unclinch,"  he  exclaims,  "  the 
iron  grasp  of  your  embargo.  Take  measures  for  that  end  before 
another  sun  sets  upon  you.  With  all  the  war  of  the  enemy  on  your 
commerce,  if  you  would  cease  to  make  war  upon  it  yourselves,  you 
would  still  have  some  commerce." 

The  policy  thus  so  eloquently  and  perseveringly  advocated  by 
Mr.  WEBSTER,  was  at  last  adopted,  and  its  results  soon  verified  his 
predictions. 

In  August,  1816,  Mr.  WEBSTER  removed  to  Boston,  retired  from 
active  political  life,  and  devoted  himself,  during  a  period  of  six  years, 
exclusively  to  the  duties  of  his  profession.  It  was  at  this  time  that  his 
reputation  as  a  Lawyer  was  fixed.  He  took  his  position  in  the  front 
rank  of  the  great  Jurists  who  then  adorned  the  Boston  Bar.  At  this 
period,  too,  he  made  some  of  those  great  forensic  efforts,  as  a  Constitu- 
tional Lawyer,  which  placed  him  beyond  all  competition  in  that 
highest  branch  of  jurisprudence.  He  argued  the  celebrated  Dartmouth 
College  case  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  on  the 
10th  of  March,  1818.  It  involved  the  question,  whether  the  Legis- 
lature of  New  Hampshire  possessed  the  constitutional  power  to  alter 
the  charter  of  Dartmouth  College  without  the  consent  of  the  corpora- 
tion ?  Mr.  Ticknor  describes  this  great  effort  as  follows  :  "  He  opened 
his  cause,  as  he  always  did,  with  perfect  simplicity,  in  the  general 
statement  of  its  facts,  and  then  went  on  to  unfold  the  topics  of  his 
argument  in  a  lucid  order,  which  made  each  position  sustain  every 
other.  The  logic  and  the  law  were  rendered  irresistible  ;  but  as  he 
advanced,  his  heart  warmed  to  the  subject  and  the  occasion.  Thoughts 
and  feelings  that  had  grown  old  with  his  best  affection,  rose  unbidden 
to  his  lips.  He  remembered  that  the  institution  he  was  defending, 


DANIEL     WEBSTER.  95 

was  the  one  where  his  own  youth  had  been  nurtured  ;  and  the  moral 
tenderness  and  beauty  this  gave  to  the  grandeur  of  his  thoughts,  the 
sort  of  religious  sensibility  it  imparted  to  his  urgent  appeals  and 
demands  for  the  stern  fulfilment  of  what  law  and  justice  required, 
wrought  up  the  whole  audience  to  an  extraordinary  state  of  excitement. 
Many  betrayed  strong  agitation  ;  many  were  dissolved  in  tears.  When 
he  ceased  to  speak,  there  was  a  perceptible  interval  before  any  one 
was  willing  to  break  the  silence ;  and  when  that  vast  crowd  separated, 
not  one  person  of  the  whole  number  doubted,  that  the  man  who  had 
that  day  so  moved,  astonished  and  controlled  them,  had  vindicated  for 
himself  a  place  at  the  side  of  the  first  Jurists  of  the  country."  The 
great  constitutional  principles  contended  for  by  Mr.  WEBSTER,  in 
support  of  the  rights  of  his  Alma  Mater,  were  fully  recognized  by  the 
Court,  and  the  act  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  Hampshire, 
attempting  to  alter  the  charter  of  Dartmouth  College,  was  declared 
null  and  void.  We  may  form  some  conception  of  the  merits  of  the 
argument  in  the  Dartmouth  College  case  from  the  fact  related  by  the 
late  Mr.  Justice  Story,  that  the  Supreme  Court  listened  to  Mr.  WEB- 
STER for  the  first  hour  with  perfect  astonishment,  for  the  second  hour 
with  perfect  delight,  and  for  the  third  hour  with  perfect  conviction. 
This  was  the  first  case  of  any  importance  since  the  organization  of  the 
Federal  Judiciary,  in  which  the  Supreme  Court  was  called  upon  to 
exercise  the  high  attribute  with  which  the  Constitution  has  invested  it, 
of  deciding  questions  relative  to  the  powers  of  sovereign  States,  which 
in  other  countries  can  only  be  settled  by  the  arbitraments  of  the  sword. 
The  extraordinary  jurisdiction  possessed  by  this  august  tribunal,  is  one 
of  the  most  admirable  features  in  the  complicated  machinery  of  Federal 
and  State  governments.  The  wisdom,  prudence  and  firmness  with 
which  justice  has  been  administered  in  that  Court,  have  in  no  small 
degree  contributed  to  the  stability  of  our  glorious  institutions ;  and 
Mr.  WEBSTER'S  name  will  be  forever  associated  with  those  of  Mar- 
shall, Story,  Taney,  and  other  great  Judges  of  the  modern  Areopagus, 
who  have  lulled  popular  excitements  so  often  produced  by  the  con- 
flicting rights  and  claims  of  States,  by  the  still  small  voice  of  reason. 
Whatever  may  be  the  effect  of  professional  training  on  the  qualifications 
of  a  Statesman,  it  is  evident  that  in  this  country  there  is  a  great  class 


96  EULOGYON 


of  questions,  and  those  of  the  highest  importance,  which  belong  alike 
to  the  Senate  and  the  Court.  Mr.  WEBSTER  presents  a  forcible  illus- 
tration of  the  correctness  of  this  observation. 

Nor  did  his  forensic  duties  prevent  him  from  cultivating  and 
exercising  those  transcendant  gifts  of  eloquence  with  which  Nature 
had  so  richly  endowed  him.  On  the  22d  of  December,  1820,  he 
delivered  an  oration  of  surpassing  pathos  and  beauty,  in  commemoration 
of  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims  at  Plymouth.  This  splendid  production 
is,  among  many  other  things,  remarkable  for  a  prediction  which  was 
realized  during  the  orator's  lifetime.  Speaking  of  the  energy,  the 
enterprise  and  success  of  the  natives  of  New  England,  he  says :  "  It 
may  be  safely  asserted,  that  there  are  now  more  than  a  million  of 
people,  descendants  of  New  England  ancestry,  living  free  and  happy 
in  regions,  which  hardly  sixty  years  ago,  were  tracts  of  unpenetrated 
forest.  Nor  do  rivers,  mountains  or  seas  resist  the  progress  of  industry 
and  enterprise.  Ere  long  the  sons  of  the  Pilgrims  will  be  on  the  shores 
of  the  Pacific." 

He  now  stood  at  the  head  of  the  American  Bar,  almost  without  a 
rival,  reaping  the  golden  harvest  of  a  large  and  profitable  practice, 
and  having  before  him  the  certain  prospect  of  an  independent  fortune. 
The  worldly  wise  will  no  doubt  wonder  that  he  should  have  been 
induced  to  abandon  a  position  so  advantageous  and  enviable.  But  his 
fellow-citizens  considered  that  they  were  entitled  to  his  services  on  a 
more  enlarged  sphere  of  action.  With  a  patriotic  devotion  to  his 
country,  and  a  disinterestedness  by  which  his  whole  life  has  been 
characterised,  he  responded  to  the  call. 

In  1822  he  returned  to  political  life,  by  being  elected  a  member 
of  Congress  from  the  city  of  Boston.  He  took  his  seat  in  December, 
1823.  At  that  time  the  sympathies  of  the  American  people  had  been 
strongly  enlisted  in  behalf  of  regenerated  and  heroic  Greece  struggling 
for  freedom.  On  the  19th  of  January,  1824,  ho  pronounced  his 
splendid  and  triumphant  vindication  of  the  cause  of  freedom  and  the 
rights  of  humanity,  against  the  base  and  insidious  machinations  of  that 
conspiracy  or  alliance  of  despots,  which  was  blasphemously  called 
Holy.  The  speech  is  replete  with  the  noblest  sentiments,  and  breathes 
the  spirit  of  the  loftiest  patriotism  in  every  line.  Instead  of  availing 


DANIEL     WEBSTER.  97 

himself  of  those  captivating  classical  allusions,  which  lay  in  such  pro- 
fusion in  his  way,  he  made  but  a  single  reference  to  Greece,  as  the 
mistress  of  the  world  in  letter^  and  arts.  He  treated,  in  a  Statesman- 
like manner,  what  he  justly  called  the  great  question  of  the  age, — the 
question  between  absolute  and  regulated  governments,  and  the  duty  of 
the  United  States  on  fitting  occasions  to  let  their  voice  be  heard  on 
this  question. 

In  the  month  of  June,  1827,  Mr.  WEBSTER  was  elected  to  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States.  As  a  Senator  he  took  a  leading  part  in 
the  discussion  of  the  various  questions  and  measures  which  came  up 
before  that  body.  But  it  was  not  before  the  beginning  of  1830,  that 
he  was  called  upon  to  buckle  on  his  armor  in  the  defence  of  the  Con- 
stitution and  the  Union,  in  a  series  of  efforts  of  transcendant  ability 
and  eloquence,  for  which  the  people,  without  distinction  of  party, 
bestowed  on  him  the  glorious  appellation  of  the  "  Defender  of  the 
Constitution." 

The  startling  doctrine  of  nullification,  secession  and  disunion,  was 
first  openly  avowed  and  advocated  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  by 
Mr.  Hayne  of  South  Carolina,  in  the  debate  on  the  resolution  intro- 
duced by  Mr.  Foot  of  Connecticut,  on  the  subject  of  the  sale  of  the 
public  lands ;  and  it  is  difficult  to  understand  how  the  discussion  to 
which  it  gave  rise,  could  embrace  a  question  involving  the  very 
existence  of  the  Government.  Such,  however,  was  the  fact. 

Twenty  years  have  rolled  by  since  the  nullification  agitation 
shook  the  Union  to  its  centre,  and  we  can  scarcely  realize  at  this 
distance  of  time  the  imminence  of  the  impending  danger.  That  Mr. 
WEBSTER  was  in  a  great  measure  instrumental,  under  Providence,  in 
saving  the  Republic,  and  in  averting  the  dreadful  calamities  by  which 
it  was  threatened,  no  one  will  deny.  His  powerful  appeal  to  the 
sober  reason  and  calm  judgment  of  the  American  people,  hushed  the 
angry  elements  which  were  distracting  the  public  mind.  The  orthodox 
political  faith,  which  he  enforced  with  such  a  sincerity  of  conviction 
and  overwhelming  power  of  argument,  was  first  listened  to,  and  finally 
embraced  by  many  whose  minds  had  been  bewildered  by  the  heresy 
of  nullification. 


98  EULOOYON 


There  is  no  exaggeration  in  the  assertion  that  Mr.  WEBSTER'S 
reply  to  Hayne,  is  one  of  the  most  powerful  speeches  to  be  found  in 
any  language ;  its  sublime  eloquence  and  irresistible  logic  sweep  along 
with  a  grandeur  and  magnificence  unsurpassed  by  any  orator  either 
of  ancient  or  modern  times. 

"  Seldom,  if  ever,"  observes  Mr.  March,  his  able  biographer, 
"has  a  speaker  in  this  or  any  other  country  had  more  powerful 
incentives  to  exertion.  A  subject,  the  determination  of  which  involved 
the  most  important  interests,  and  even  duration  of  the  Republic ; 
competitors  unequalled  in  reputation,  ability  or  position ;  a  name  to 
make  still  more  glorious,  or  lose  forever ;  and  an  audience  comprising 
not  only  persons  of  this  country  most  eminent  in  intellectual  greatness, 
but  representatives  of  other  nations,  where  the  art  of  eloquence  had 
flourished  for  ages.  All  the  soldier  seeks  in  opportunity,  was  here. 
Mr.  WEBSTER  perceived,  and  felt  equal  to  the  destinies  of  the  moment. 
The  very  greatness  of  the  hazard  "exhilerated  him.  His  spirits  rose 
with  the  occasion.  He  awaited  the  time  of  onset  with  a  stern  and 
impatient  joy.  He  felt  like  the  war-horse  of  the  Scriptures,  who 
'  paweth  in  the  valley,  and  rejoiceth  in  his  strength  ;  who  goeth  on  to 
meet  the  armed  men ;  who  saith  among  the  trumpets,  Ha,  ha !  and 
who  smelleth  the  battle  afar  off,  the  thunder  of  the  captains,  and  the 
shouting.'  *A  confidence  in  his  own  resources,  springing  from  no  vain 
estimate  of  his  power,  but  the  legitimate  offspring  of  previous  severe 
mental  discipline,  sustained  and  excited  him.  He  had  gauged  his 
opponents,  his  subject,  and  himself" 

No  analysis  of  this  great  oratorical  effort  can  possibly  convey  to 
the  mind  any  conception  of  its  close  and  irresistible  logic,  its  withering 
sarcasm,  the  beauty  of  its  imagery,  and  the  splendor  of  its  diction. 
Many  of  its  passages  have  been  selected  as  brilliant  gems  of  oratory, 
and  inserted  in  every  treatise  on  elocution.  His  reply  to  Mr.  Hayne's 
bitter  attack  on  Massachusetts,  is  so  full  of  words  that  burn,  and 
thoughts  that  breathe,  that  although  familiar  to  every  one,  it  may  well 
be  repeated  here : 

"  Mr.  President,"  said  he,  "  I  shall  enter  on  no  enconium  upon 
Massachusetts;  she  needs  none.  Behold  her  and  judge  for  yourselves. 
There  is  her  history ;  the  world  knows  it  by  heart.  The  past  at  least 


DANIEL     WEBSTER.  99 

is  secure.  There  is  Boston,  and  Concord,  and  Lexington,  and  Bun- 
ker Hill ;  and  there  they  will  remain  forever.  The  bones  of  her  sons, 
fallen  in  the  great  struggle  of  Independence,  now  lie  mingled  with  the 
soil  of  every  State  from  New  England  to  Georgia ;  and  there  they 
will  lie  forever.  And,  Sir,  where  American  liberty  raised  its  first 
voice,  and  where  its  youth  was  nurtured  and  sustained,  there  it  still 
lives,  in  the  strength  of  its  manhood,  and  full  of  its  original  spirit.  It 
discord  and  disunion  shall  wound  it ;  if  party  strife  and  blind  ambition 
shall  hawk  at  it  and  tear  it;  if  folly  and  madness,  if  uneasiness  under 
salutary  and  necessary  restraints,  shall  succeed  in  separating  it  from 
the  Union,  by  which  alone  its  existence  is  made  sure,  it  will  stand,  in 
the  end,  by  the  side  of  that  cradle  in  which  its  infancy  was  rocked ;  it 
will  stretch  forth  its  arm,  with  whatever  of  vigor  it  may  still  retain, 
over  the  friends  who  gather  around  it ;  and  it  will  fall  at  last,  if  fall  it 
must,  amidst  the  proudest  monuments  of  its  own  glory,  and  on  the 
very  spot  of  its  origin." 

The  Orator  throws  his  whole  soul  into  the  magnificent  peroration 
of  this  great  speech  : 

"  While  the  Union  lasts,  we  have  high,  exciting,  gratifying  pros- 
pects spread  out  before  us,  for  us  and  our  children.  Beyond  that,  I 
seek  not  to  penetrate  the  veil.  God  grant  that  in  my  day,  at  least, 
that  curtain  may  not  rise  !  God  grant  that  on  my  vision  never  may 
be  opened  what  lies  behind  !  When  my  eyes  shall  be  turned  to 
behold  for  the  last  time  the  sun  in  Heaven,  may  I  not  see  him  shining 
on  the  broken  and  dishonored  fragments  of  a  once  glorious  Union ;  on 
States  dissevered,  discordant,  belligerent ;  on  a  land  rent  with  civil 
feuds,  or  drenched,  it  may  be,  in  fraternal  blood !  Let  their  last  feeble 
and  lingering  glance  rather  behold  the  gorgeous  ensign  of  the  Repub- 
lic, now  known  and  honored  throughout  the  earth,  still  full  advanced, 
its  arms  and  trophies  streaming  in  their  original  lustre,  not  a  stripe 
erased  or  polluted,  nor  a  single  star  obscured,  bearing  for  its  motto 
no  such  miserable  interrogatory  as,  "  What  is  all  tlds  worth  ?"  nor 
those  other  words  of  delusion  and  folly,  "  Liberty  first,  and  Union 
afterwards  ;"  but  every  where  spread  all  over  in  characters  of  living 
light,  blazing  on  all  its  ample  folds,  as  they  float  over  the  sea  and  over 
the  land,  and  in  every  wind  in  the  whole  heavens,  that  other  senti- 

m 


100  EULOGY     ON 


ment,  dear  to  every  true  American  heart, — Liberty  and  Union,  now 
and  forever,  one  and  inseparable !" 

While  Secretary  of  State,  under  Presidents  Harrison  and  Tyler, 
he  succeeded  in  settling  the  difficult  and  vexed  question  of  the  North 
Eastern  Boundary,  which  had  been  the  subject  of  negotiation  between 
the  United  States  and  England,  almost  ever  since  the  Peace  of  1783. 
The  attitude  which  the  two  nations  had  assumed  towards  each  other 
in  relation  to  the  disputed  territory,  was  of  the  most  alarming  charac- 
ter. Adverse  and  hostile  forces  had  actually  assembled  on  the  north- 
eastern boundary;  and  if  prompt  and  efficient  measures  had  not  been 
devised  by  Mr.  WEBSTER,  to  avoid  an  open  collision  between  the 
troops,  without  compromiting  the  honor  of  either  country,  a  war  with 
England  would  have  been  inevitable.  His  diplomatic  intercourse  with 
foreign  governments  was  frank,  open  and  honorable:  he  considered 
the  dissimulation,  stratagems  and  trickery  of  hackneyed  diplomatists, 
as  unworthy  a  great  people.  No  Statesman  was  ever  more  successful 
in  carrying  on  our  foreign  relations  than  Mr.  WEBSTEH. 

With  the  commencement  of  President  Folk's  administration,  Mr. 
WEBSTER  returned  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  Though 
unconnected  with  the  Executive  branch  of  the  Government,  the  fact 
is  well  established,  that  he  exercised  a  controlling  influence  with  the 
British  Ministry  in  the  settlement  of  the  Oregon  question  in  1846. 

The  acquisition  of  California  gave  rise,  as  we  all  remember,  to 
the  discussion  of  the  Slavery  question,  which  agitated  the  public  mind 
to  such  an  alarming  extent,  that  serious  apprehensions  were  entertained 
that  it  might  eventually  lead  to  a  dissolution  of  the  Union.  At  this 
crisis,  the  Great  Pacificator,  HENRY  CLAY,  (whose  death,  alas!  we 
also  mourn,)  stepped  forward,  and  introduced  those  Compromise 
measures,  which  it  is  to  be  hoped,  have  removed  that  exasperating 
topic  of  dissension  and  ill  feeling  forever.  The  happy  effects  which 
have  flowed  from  that  wise  and  seasonable  legislation,  have  silenced 
all  opposition  to  it  except  by  a  set  of  deluded  fanatics,  who  are 
addressed  in  vain  by  the  voice  of  reason,  and  who  are  ready  to  sacri- 
fice all  the  blessings  we  enjoy  individually  and  as  a  nation,  to  gratify 
their  frantic  rage,  and  execute  their  reckless  determination  to  do 
mischief.  But  when  the  Compromise  was  first  proposed,  it  met  with 


DANIEL     WEBSTER.  101 

the  most  violent  opposition,  both  from  the  North  and  the  South  ;  an 
opposition  which  could  not  have  been  successfully  resisted  by  the 
united  and  commanding  ability  and  influence  of  Mr.  CLAY,  Mr.  Cass, 
and  the  other  patriotic  Statesmen  of  both  parties,  who  acted  with 
them,  if  Mr.  WEBSTER  had  not  come  to  the  rescue.  In  that  hour  of 
peril,  when  the  stoutest  hearts  felt  apprehensions  for  the  safety  of  the 
Republic,  he  infused  new  confidence,  and  inspired  fresh  hopes  into 
the  public  mind,  by  his  great  speech  for  the  Constitution  and  the 
Union,  pronounced  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  on  the  7th  of 
March,  1850.  This  speech  produced  a  most  powerful  effect,  not  only 
in  the  Halls  of  Congress,  but  throughout  the  whole  country.  It  was 
the  last  time  the  great  "  Defender  of  the  Constitution"  had  to  mount 
its  ramparts  to  repulse  the  assaults  of  its  enemies.  And  he  fought  this 
last  battle  in  defence  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  the 
great  charter  of  political  and  social  rights,  most  nobly  and  triumphantly. 
Let  us  listen  for  a  moment  to  the  fervent  and  patriotic  exhortation 
with  which  the  Orator  concludes  : 

"And  now,  Mr.  President,  instead  of  speaking  of  the  possibility 
or  utility  of  secession ;  instead  of  dwelling  on  those  caverns  of  dark- 
ness ;  instead  of  groping  with  those  ideas  so  full  of  all  that  is  horrid 
and  horrible,  let  us  come  out  into  the  light  of  day  ;  let  us  enjoy  the 
fresh  air  of  liberty  and  union  ;  let  us  cherish  those  hopes  which  belong 
to  us ;  let  us  devote  ourselves  to  those  great  objects  that  are  fit  for  our 
consideration  and  our  action;  let  us  raise  our  conceptions  to  the 
magnitude  and  importance  of  the  duties  that  devolve  upon  us  ;  let  our 
comprehension  be  as  broad  as  the  country  for  which  we  act,  our 
inspiration  as  high  as  its  certain  destiny;  let  us  not  be  pigmies  in  a 
case  that  calls  for  men.  Never  did  there  devolve  on  any  generation 
of  men  higher  trusts  than  now  devolve  on  us,  for  the  preservation  of 
this  Constitution,  and  the  harmony  and  peace  of  all  who  are  destined 
to  live  under  it.  Let  us  make  our  generation  one  of  the  strongest  and 
brightest  links  in  that  golden  chain  which  is  destined,  I  fondly  believe, 
to  grapple  the  people  of  all  the  States  to  this  Constitution  for  ages  to 
come.  We  have  a  great  popular  Constitutional  Government,  guarded 
by  law  and  by  judicature,  and  defended  by  the  affections  of  the  whole 
people.  No  monarchical  throne  presses  these  States  together;  no 


102  EULOGY     ON 


iron  chain  of  military  power  encircles  them;  they  live  and  stand  under 
a  Government  popular  in  its  form,  representative  in  its  character, 
founded  upon  principles  of  equality,  and  so  constructed,  we  hope,  as 
to  last  forever.  In  all  its  history  it  has  been  beneficent ;  it  has  trodden 
down  no  man's  liberty ;  it  has  crushed  no  State.  Its  daily  respiration 
is  liberty  and  patriotism.  Its  yet  youthful  veins  are  full  of  enterprise, 
courage,  and  honorable  love  of  glory  and  renown.  Large  before,  the 
country  has  now,  by  recent  events,  become  vastly  larger.  This  Repub- 
lic now  extends,  with  a  vast  breadth,  across  the  whole  continent. 
The  two  great  seas  of  the  world  wash  the  one  and  the  other  shore. 
We  realise,  on  a  mighty  scale,  the  description  of  the  ornamental  border 
of  the  buckler  of  Achilles : — 

'  Now,  the  broad  shield  complete,  the  artist  crowned 
With  his  last  hand,  and  poured  the  ocean  round ; 
In  living  silver  seemed  the  wares  to  roll, 
And  beat  the  buckler's  verge,  and  bound  the  whole."' 

Shortly  after  this  speech  had  been  delivered,  the  venerable  Hero 
of  Buena  Vista  died,  and  'our  present  excellent  Chief  Magistrate  was 
called  upon  to  fill  the  Executive  Chair.  Mr.  WEBSTER  was  appointed 
Secretary  of  Slate.  It  is  needless  to  dwell  on  the  ability  with  which 
he  discharged  the  functions  of  that  high  trust,  and  how  far  he  con- 
tributed to  the  success  of  President  Fillmore's  administration,  for  it  is 
fresh  in  our  memories. 

When  we  consider  Mr.  WEBSTER'S  character  in  the  domestic  and 
social  relations  of  life,  it  equally  inspires  us  with  respect  and  admira- 
tion. Those  tender  feelings  and  sacred  affections  which  endear  and 
hallow  the  family  circle,  gushed  profusely  from  his  heart  during  a 
long  life;  nor  was  their  current  interrupted  by  the  frost  of  age,  or  the 
distraction  and  turmoil  of  public  cares.  In  the  dedication  of  his  works, 
as  late  as  1851,  he  gives  expression  to  those  feelings  in  tfie  most 
touching  manner.  As  a  friend  he  was  warm  and  sincere,  and  as  an 
enemy  he  was  placable  and  forgiving.  He  lost  the  nomination  for  the 
Presidency  last  June,  because  he  had  felt  it  his  duty  to  oppose  the 
appointment  of  a  prominent  politician  to  fill  the  vacancy  on  the  bench 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  occasioned  by  the  death 
of  Mr.  Justice  Woodbury ;  still  he  spoke  of  the  gentleman  by  whom 


DANIEL     WEBSTER.  103 

his  nomination  had  been  defeated,  with  kindness  and  respect.  He  was 
full  of  the  milk  of  human  kindness.  Wherever  he  discovered  worth 
and  talent,  he  was  ready  to  do  them  homage  and  give  them  encourage- 
ment. 

His  personal  appearance,  especially  when  he  rose  to  address  the 
Senate,  was  remarkably  imposing.  He  was  a  perfect  personification 
of  Milton's  conception  of  a  great  Statesman  and  Orator : 


*********    «\Vith  grave 
Aspect  he  rose,  and  in  his  rising  seemed 
A  pillar  of  State ;  deep  on  his  front  engraven 
Deliberation  sat,  and  public  care. 
*********    Sage  he  stood 
With  Atlantean  shoulders  fit  to  bear 
The  weight  of  mightiest  commonwealths ;  his  look 
Drew  audience  and  attention  still  as  night, 
On  summer's  noontide  air." 

His  is  not  the  impetuous,  vehement,  stormy  eloquence  of  CLAY, 
nor  the  fervid,  didatic,  powerful  ratiocination  of  CALHOUN.  His  oratory 
is  not  like  the  mountain  torrent,  dashing  on  in  its  fury  over  rocks  and 
cataracts ;  but  rather  like  a  mighty  river,  flowing  on  majestically  in 
its  deep  channel,  carrying  every  obstacle  before  it  without  any  apparent 
struggle.  All  his  oratorical  efforts  are  distinguished  by  a  compre- 
hensive, deep  and  accurate  analysis  of  principles,  and  a  close,  irresistible 
logic.  Though  gifted  with  a  rich  fancy  and  an  exuberant  imagination, 
yet  he  kept  these  potent  auxiliaries  of  eloquence  always  in  strict 
subordination  to  his  analitical  and  logical  powers,  and  only  called  in 
their  assistance  to  illustrate  and  give  effect  to  his  argument.  A  mere 
flight  of  the  imagination,  for  the  purpose  of  embellishment  alone,  is 
not  to  be  found  in  the  whole  range  of  Mr.  WEBSTER'S  speeches.  He 
disdains  the  glare  and  tinsel  of  the  rhetorician;  but  the  wonderful 
charm  of  his  oratory  consists  in  the  force,  originality  and  correctness 
of  his  thoughts.  He  carefully  avoids  the  fatal  mistake  of  confounding 
pomposity  of  diction  with  genuine  eloquence.  His  narration  is  simple, 
unaffected  and  perspicuous.  He  rises  with  the  importance  and  dignity 
of  the  theme  he  is  discussing.  When  expatiating  on,  and  developing 
the  great  principles  of  our  own  peculiar  American  Liberty,  both  his 
heart  and  his  genius  seem  to  luxuriate  in  their  proper  element.  More 
quotations  from  his  speeches  have  been  made  in  this  discourse  than 


104  EULOGY     ON     DANIEL     WEBSTER. 

may  be  considered  admissable,  but  the  object  was  to  exhibit  the  leading 
feature  of  his  character — an  ardent  and  sincere  attachment  to  the  Con- 
stitution and  the  Union.  He  was  deeply  impressed  with  the  truth, 
that — 

"  The  greatest  glory  of  a  free-born  people, 
Is  to  transmit  that  freedom  to  their  children." 

To  assert  that  Mr.  WEBSTER  had  no  faults,  would  be  claiming  for 
him  an  exemption  from  the  frailty  of  human  nature.  He  lived  and 
died  in  the  faith  and  hopes  of  a  Christian.  Indeed  his  whole  life,  when 
compared  with  the  great  statesmen  and  orators  of  antiquity,  is  a 
glorious  exemplification  of  the  difference  which  exists  between  Pagan- 
ism and  Christianity — between  stoicism  and  Christian  morality. 

He  has  departed  full  of  years  and  honor,  and  his  memory  is  em- 
balmed in  the  grateful  recollection  of  his  countrymen.  The  name  of 
DANIEL  WEBSTER  will  become  a  household  word,  like  those  of  Wash- 
ington, Franklin,  and  their  great  compeers ;  it  will  awaken  thrilling 
associations  of  patriotism  and  liberty ;  and  his  bright  example  will 
excite  a  noble  emulation  to  preserve  and  transmit,  unimpaired,  that 
glorious  Union,  to  which  he  was  so  devotedly  attached,  from  genera- 
tion to  generation,  to  the  last  syllable  of  rec6rded  time. 


That  this  memorial  of  the  Ceremony  of  the  9th  December,  1852,  and  its  antocondente,  may  be 
considered  an  accurate  record,  worthy  of  preservation  by  the  citizens  who  took  part  in  them,  will 
be  a  sufficient  compensation  for  the  labors  of  the  General  and  Sub-Committees. 
H.  R.  W.  HILL,  President.       A.HARRIS,  J.  LABATUT,  J.  L.  LUGUNBUHL, 

J.  M.  BURKE,  J.  O.  NIXON,  L.  II  PLACE,  V.  IIEERMANN, 

L.  BURTIIE,  M.  BLACIIE,  A.  DERBES,  J  W.  DOLIIONDE, 

J.A.  WATKINS,  8.  W.  PH1LBRICK,    ISAAC  BRIDGE,  JNO.  R.  GRIMES, 

A.  M.  HOLBROOK)  W.  L  GUSHING,        W.MONAGHAN,          THUS.  A.  ADAMS, 

JOS.  GENOIS,  JNO.  L  LEWIS,         MANUEL  GARCIA,      M.  M.  COIIEN, 

C.  MAURIAN,  W.  A.  ELMORE,         T.  J.  DURANT. 


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